Just Friends
by danceisthewindowtoyoursoul
Summary: They made a mistake. Yes, it might not have been entirely all their fault, but they made a mistake. Robbie just wants to do the right thing, and Cat is determined to make sure their "best friends" status remains unchanged. But that's kind of hard to do when she's having his baby.
1. Chapter 1

_Cat's POV_

I push open the front door to Hollywood Arts High School and walk out as I tuck my early dismissal pass into the back pocket of my jeans. A cold breeze blows through the air, so I pull my hoodie closer around me as I approach the car waiting for me in the parking lot.

"God damn." I sigh as I throw my backpack in the back seat, then open the passenger door and climb in "You'd think it'd be warmer for April."

"End of April." My older brother, Charlie, corrects me, not even looking up from his cell phone "It'll get warmer, don't worry."

He finishes up typing whatever email he needed to send, then places his phone down in the cup holder next to him, puts the car in gear, and zooms out of the parking lot.

"Thank you..." I whisper as we pull into traffic "For helping me out with this..."

"Well I have to admit, it's not something I'd thought you'd ever need my help with..." He chuckles "But better me than Mom right? Oh god, or Dad."

"Yeah..."

"It'll be okay, kiddo." He reaches over and squeezes my shoulder "I got your back."

"Thanks." I manage to smile.

There's eight years difference between Charlie and I. I just turned 17 and he's 25. In college, he majored in finance, and now works for some big corporation where he spends all day interpreting financial data or something of the sort. You know, one of those boring 9-5, wear a nice shirt and tie everyday, work in a cubicle kind of jobs. I know he's only doing it to appease our father too. He really wanted to be a singer, but that wasn't stable enough for Dad's liking apparently. He'll probably force me to do the same too, when the time comes.

"Charlie..." I whisper as we pull into the parking lot of our destination "What's going to happen to me?"

"Don't psych yourself out yet kid." He tells me "There might not be anything to worry about."

"But what if there is?"

"Like I said before..." He smiles "I got your back."

* * *

"How long ago was your last period?" The doctor asks me

I think for a moment before answering him.

"About eight or nine weeks ago." I answer

"Have you taken a home pregnancy test yet?"

"Yeah..." I nod "Two actually, one was positive, and one was negative."

"Okay..." He says, giving me a questionable look "Well, just let me run and get your test results from the lab down the hall, and we'll talk when I get back okay?"

"Alright." I sigh as he stands up and exits the room.

Charlie and I sit in silence for a while before he speaks up.

"Who's the Dad?" He asks

"Charlie, please not now." I beg

"Hey. I think if I'm going to cover for you, I think I should know who the dad is." He exclaims "Come on, Cat."

"You're covering for me because I've been covering for you for almost five years now." I remind him

Five years ago, he met his boyfriend, Tuck. Mom and Dad still don't know, and I don't see him telling them anytime soon.

"You and I both know you won't tell." He smirks

"You're right." I roll my eyes "I won't."

"Great!" He laughs "So who's the dad?"

"Charlie." I whine

"Cat." He mimics my tone "Come on, I won't judge you."

"Alright..." I sigh "Well...it all started the night of the CowWow..."

* * *

_Light shines in from the window across the room, falling across my face._

_My eyes flutter open, and I almost immediately close them again, the sun too bright for me to handle. I have a pounding headache._

_"Shit." I mutter and sit up_

_Looking around, I realize the room I'm in isn't mine, and I begin to panic. Even more so when I realize I'm not wearing any clothes._

_I try to climb out of the bed, but end up getting tangled in the sheets, falling to the floor with a loud thud._

_"Hello?" A male voice says from the bed "Who's there?"_

_"Uhhhh..." I hesitate, grabbing my dress and putting it on quickly "It's me."_

_"Cat?" He asks_

_"Yeah." I raise my head above the mattress so whoever It is can see "Oh god."_

_"Oh shit!" He exclaims_

_Laying in bed is none other than my best friend, Robbie Shapiro._

_"Did we..?" He asks, obviously just as shocked as I am._

_"I...I..." I hesitate "I think we did."_

_"Oh god." He groans and falls back onto the mattress "How?"_

_"Someone must've spiked the punch..." I shrug "Do you feel hungover? I feel hungover."_

_"Definitely hungover." He agrees "So now what?"_

_"Now nothing." I respond_

_"What?"_

_"Well we can't tell anybody." I remind him "Let's...let's just forget it happened okay? Live life like normal."_

_"Agreed." He nods "This stays between us."_

_"Alright. Well, it starts now, I'm gonna go home." I grab my purse from the corner of the room "I'll see you at school tomorrow."_

_"Okay." He waves as I exit "See you."_

_"Best friends right?" I yell to him as I walk down the stairs_

_"Yeah!" He yells back "Best friends!"_

* * *

"Oh god." Charlie laughs "The Shapiro kid? 'Head over heels in love with you' Shapiro kid?"

"Charlie stop." I say flatly "You said you weren't gonna judge!"

"Sorry." He snorts "Sorry. Okay. Sorry. Yeah, I'm done now."

I roll my eyes and fold my arms across my chest, leaning back against the wall just as the doctor re-enters the room.

"Well?" I sit up "What does it say?"

"Cat..." He sighs

"No..." I shake my head, tears starting to well up in my eyes "No. I can't be."

"You're pregnant." He says

I rest my head in my hands as the tears start to fall uncontrollably. I hear Charlie ask the doctor to give us a minute as he moves to sit next to me, wrapping an arm around me tightly.

"Cat..." He whispers "Come on, Cat don't cry."

"Mom is going to disown me and Dad is going to kill me." I cry

"We'll take care of Mom and Dad okay?" He sighs "You're gonna get through this."

"How do you know?" I look at him "Have you ever been 17 and pregnant?"

"No." He smirks "And I will never know what that feels like. But, you know what I do know?"

"What?" I sniff

"I know that my baby sister is the strongest girl I've ever met." He assures me "And I know she can get through anything."

* * *

"Are you going to come in and see Mom?" I ask when Charlie drops me off at home later that afternoon.

"Nah." He shakes his head "I'm already late getting back to work."

"Sorry." I apologize "Thank you for taking me. And for the ice cream."

I had been too worked up to go back to school, and the appointment had already taken longer than we anticipated anyway, so Charlie had called school pretending to be Dad and called me out if my last two classes.

"Don't apologize." He tells me "Call me if you need anything, okay?"

"Okay." I sigh and turn to walk into the house

"Hey!" He stops me "Are you going to tell her now?"

"No!" I exclaim

"She'll figure it out eventually..." He reminds me "And...eventually _I'll_ have to tell her..."

"No! Charlie! I...I'm not telling her until I figure out what I'm doing with it...okay?"

"Okay." He shrugs "Hey! Come here."

He leans out of the window of his car and kisses my cheek.

"Love you baby sis." He smiles

"Love you too, big bro." I manage to laugh "You're still my date to Dad's dinner party on Friday night, right?"

"You bet." He winks "Text me tonight, okay?"

"Kay." I wave as he pulls out of the driveway, then turn to enter my mother's house.

My parents had divorced when I was twelve. I'm surprised it took them so long honestly. They were total opposites. My mother, was your stereotypical soccer mom, a pretty cool, but reasonably strict, soccer mom. She's the sweetest, greatest person I've ever known. My father on the other hand...was a very successful lawyer, who also happened to be a workaholic, who wasn't around much, but was very strict when he was. He was also a devote Catholic. If he knew he had a gay son, and now a pregnant teenage daughter, he'd probably burst into flames.

"Hi Mom!" I call as I enter the front hall

"Hi Kitty Cat!" She smiles, entering the room and kissing my forehead "How was lunch with your brother today?"

"Oh it was great!" I lie, which I think she senses

"Is everything okay, sweetheart?" She asks "You love spending time with your brother!"

"No everything is fine!" I exclaim "Just...rough math test last hour of the day, kinda ruined my mood."

"You're sure everything's okay?"

"Positive." I nod "I'm gonna go do my homework!"

"Alright?" She laughs "Dinner at six, okay?"

"Okay!"

Tears begin falling as I enter the upstairs hallway, and by the time I have my door closed behind me, I'm full out sobbing.

What am I going to do?


	2. Chapter 2

_Cat's POV_

"Cat!" Jade calls from down the hallway as she approaches my locker "Heads up!"

I turn my head just as she tosses the blueberry muffin in her hand towards me, which I catch, thankfully.

"For me?" I laugh as I open the packaging "You shouldn't have."

The sweet aroma that had been contained inside the paper wrapping wafts up into my nostrils and suddenly, I feel sick to my stomach. This must be the beginning of morning sickness.

"Beck and I stopped at that bakery downtown you like for breakfast this morning." She shrugs as I stick the muffin inside my lunch bag "I figured...wait you're not gonna eat it?"

"I had a big breakfast today." I lie to her "I'll save it for lunch."

"Cat, you haven't eaten breakfast in like, five _years_..." She narrows her eyes at me "Are you okay? Are you sick?"

"My mom was experimenting with some new waffle recipe she found on the internet." I try to convince her "I'm the only other one who lives there, I felt bad."

"Yeah okay." She agrees, even though I can tell she doesn't fully believe me "Do you want to go see a movie tonight?"

"Can't." I roll my eyes "Charlie and I have to attend one of Daddy's fabulous dinner parties."

"Why does he make you go to those?" She asks as I close my locker and we start walking to class "Everybody is at least 20-30 years older than you."

"He wants to look good in front of his co-workers..." I sigh "Like 'hey look! I'm a successful business man who also has a fabulous girlfriend and two perfect children!' It's honestly only to make himself look better."

"Why do you guys let him parade you around like that?"

"Because he pays for college," I tell her "That's why."

_I doubt he'll pay for college once he finds out about the baby.._.

"Sup ladies?" Andre greets us as we enter Sikowitz's class for first period "Anything exciting happen since I saw you twelve hours ago?"

"Cat ate breakfast." Jade tells him

"Wow." Andre laughs, pressing a hand to my forehead "Feelin okay there, lil red?"

"You guys act like I'm anorexic or something!" I exclaim "I just never had time to eat breakfast in junior high so it just became habit not to!"

"_Somebody's_ in a mood..." He chuckles

"Cat." Jade touches my shoulder "We're just giving you a hard time."

"Well stop!"

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" She whispers "Are you on your period?"

"I'm fine!" I groan "Really guys, I'm okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!" I exclaim "Just leave it alone!"

* * *

"How's my favorite redhead doing this afternoon?" Robbie asks as he sits down at the lunch table next to me.

_Besides the fact I'm pregnant with your child? _

"Fine." I smile, taking another bite of my salad. "Whatcha got for lunch?"

"Fish tacos from the grub truck." He tells me

"Oh yum." I raise my eyebrows

"I see you have a salad, as usual." He chuckles

"What's that supposed to mean?" I exclaim

"Woah hey, nothing." He raises his hands in defense "Just you bring a salad everyday."

"I _like_ salad!" I say

"That's fine!" He laughs, opening his to-go box as the rest of our friends approach the table "Hey guys."

"Fish tacos?" Andre asks, holding up his own box

"You bet." Robbie tells him

"Those things are so gross." Tori rolls her eyes "How do you guys eat those?"

"They're not so bad," I shrug as the smell of fish starts to fill our table "But oh god they smell terrible! Robbie get that away from me!"

"Aw come on!" He laughs and pushes the tacos towards me "They smell wonderful."

"Robbie stop! I'm serious!" I exclaim "I'm gonna be sick!"

"Cat it doesn't smell any worse than it usually does..." Jade tells me

"Really?" I ask

All my friends nod in agreement.

"Well..." I say, my stomach continuing to twist and turn "Hey I forgot my water bottle! Be right back!"

I stand up from the lunch table and start inside. I really had originally intended on going back to my locker for my water bottle, but make a beeline for the bathroom instead. I never actually throw up, but my stomach doesn't settle either.

I don't think I'll be able to handle another eight months of this.

* * *

"Cat!" My dad's girlfriend, Chelsea exclaims as Charlie and I enter the apartment "Charlie! Hello darlings!"

"Hi, Chelsea." Charlie smiles as she hugs us both and kisses our cheeks "You look lovely."

"So do both of you!" She compliments us "Cat, pink is such a lovely color on you! Oh!"

She stops a caterer walking by with a tray of champagne flutes, grabbing two off.

"Here." She hands one to each of us "Enjoy yourselves, it's a Friday night!"

I accept the glass from her and almost take a sip before I remember that champagne is alcohol, and pregnant women can't drink.

"Oh second thought..." I sigh and hand the glass back "I really shouldn't."

"Oh come on, live a little, Cat." Chelsea laughs "We don't have to tell your father."

"I actually haven't been feeling so good today." I tell her "Don't want to risk it."

"I understand completely." She nods "Go ahead into the kitchen and ask for whatever you want okay? And if you change your mind about the champagne, just come ask me, I'll find you some. Sound good?"

"Yes, thank you." I laugh

At that point someone more important than us has walked in and she turns her attention to them instead. Charlie loops his arm around mine and starts leading my towards the kitchen.

"Not feeling so good, huh?" He whispers so only I can hear "You alright?"

"I don't know how much longer I can do this, Charlie..." I admit "Can I have a ginger ale please?"

"You're not seriously considering..." He looks around to make sure no one else is listening or paying attention "You're not going to abort it are you?"

"Thanks." I say to the caterer who hands me a plastic glass full of ginger ale "Charlie, I don't know what else to do, I don't want it."

"Well there's other options besides..." He hesitates "Besides that."

I'm about to respond to him when our dad enters the kitchen.

"Charles!" He exclaims, walking over to us "Caterina! Chelsea said you were here!"

"Hey Dad." Charlie smiles, shaking his hand "Good to see you!"

"And you too, son." My dad smiles "How's work going for you?"

"Fantastic." Charlie grins "Really close to that promotion!"

"That's my boy!" He laughs "And what about my little girl? How are you, Caterina?"

"I'm great, thank you Daddy." I tell him as he hugs me

"Still getting good grades at school?" He asks "They haven't changed since you saw me last weekend." I laugh

"Good. Good to hear." He grins "Listen, dinner is starting soon, so why don't you two start making your way to the table? You're seated right next to Chelsea."

"Sure Dad." Charlie nods and takes my arm again

The two of us enter the formal dining room and take our seats at the table.

"Look, I'm going to tell Dad I'm working tomorrow so he'll let us out of here early." Charlie whispers to me "Then we'll go get ice cream, sound good?"

"Yes." I laugh as more people start sitting down "Sounds amazing."

Thankfully, the appetizer is just a house salad, not something exotic I have to worry about not being able to stomach. But the main dish concerns me...

"Salmon." I mumble to myself "Of course it's fish."

"What was that?" Charlie asks

"Charlie." I say seriously "I can't eat this."

"Why not? Are you okay?"

"Andre and Robbie had fish at lunch today and just the _smell alone_ almost made me throw up." I tell him "I can't eat this."

"Cat...I don't really know if there's anything we can do..." He says looking around nervously

One of the caterers places a plate of salmon and some kind of rice in front of us.

"Just eat the rice." He tells me "Maybe Dad won't notice."

"Alright." I sigh, taking a small bit of rice on my fork

It doesn't taste terrible, but it's bland. Probably meant to be eaten with the fish, which the stench of is still increasingly strong, at least to me.

I take a sip of my ginger ale, but my stomach is still turning. I know I'm not going to make it.

"Excuse me!" I say, though I'm not exactly sure who I mean to direct it at, and run quickly to the bathroom.

I have to choke down the vomit as I run so it doesn't explode everywhere, but when I collapse in front of the toilet in the bathroom, letting it out actually feels worse than holding it in.

"Cat!" Charlie calls after me "Where'd you go?"

"In here!" I manage to yell before more liquid comes pouring out of my mouth

"Hey are you- oh jeez!" He kneels down next to me "Hey hey. I'm here! You're okay."

"CATERINA?" I hear my father yelling "CHARLES? ARE YOU TWO OKAY?"

"In the bathroom, Dad!" Charlie yells back to him

"Charlie no!" I beg

"We're gonna say you're sick okay?" He says quickly before Dad enters

"Oh my, are you okay sweetheart?" He asks

I shake my head no.

"She has that stomach bug that's been going around." Charlie explains as he helps me stand up, flushing the toilet as he does so "I'm just going to take her back to Mom's."

"You can just stay here." Dad offers "Really, it'd be much easier."

"It's not your weekend." I remind him, leaning up against Charlie "And I don't want to be around all these people right now."

"Alright." He sighs and kisses my forehead "I'll call you in the morning and check up on you, alright?"

"Alright, Daddy." I sigh

* * *

"Hello?" Charlie calls as we enter our mom's house, there's no response "Come on, I don't think she's home. Let's get you changed."

He helps me upstairs and into my room, grabbing me a pair of pajama pants and an old t-shirt from my closet as I start undressing.

"Don't look." I warn him before I slide my dress off

"Cat, I'm gay." He scoffs "I'm not interested in that."

"You're still my brother." I remind him "It's weird and uncomfortable, turn around."

"Alright fine." He laughs and turns around "Hurry up, though."

"I'm trying!" I groan as I slide my dress off and pull on the pajama pants and sports bra "Alright."

"You've gotta tell Mom." He tells me, throwing the t shirt at me and sitting down on my bed "She'll be able to help you figure this out."

"What does she need to tell me?" Mom asks, appearing in the doorway

"Mom!" I exclaim "Hi!"

"We..." Charlie hesitates "We didn't think you were home!"

"I was in the bathroom..." She explains "Cat, what do you need to tell me?"

I look frantically over to Charlie, who shrugs, panicked. Thanks big brother.

"I...uh..."

"How much did you overhear?" Charlie asks her

"_Enough_." She tells him "Sweetheart, I've known for _years_, you can stop hiding that."

Charlie blushes.

"Alright, Cat." Mom sighs "If you won't tell me what you and your brother we're talking about, maybe you can explain this then..."

She holds up the ultrasound picture I got from the doctor.

"Were you going through my drawers?" I snap, then immediately cover my mouth

I probably just blew it.

"I was putting away _your_ laundry." She tells me "Who's ultrasound is this, Caterina?"

"It's..." I choke as tears start to form in my eyes "It's mine...don't be mad! _Please_!"

"I'm not mad about the baby right now, I'm mad you kept it from me!" She scolds

"I've only known for two days!" I exclaim "That's where Charlie and I were on Wednesday!"

"You knew?" Mom exclaims, turning to Charlie

"Funny story..." Charlie laughs "I'm working tomorrow, so I really should be getting home. I'll call you tomorrow, Cat. Love you guys! Bye!"

"YOU AND I BOTH KNOW YOURE NOT WORKING TOMORROW!" I call after him as he exits my room "Come on..."

"How far along are you?" Mom asks

"Six weeks..." I whisper, tears rolling down my cheeks "Don't kick me out, please."

"Woah woah woah, sweetheart." She stops me "I'm not going to kick you out. I'm a little disappointed in you, but I'll get over it. I'm not going to kick you out."

"Mom..." I shake my head "I don't want this baby."

The slow stream of tears turns into a full out sob and I collapse into a mess on the floor of my bedroom. Mom sits down next to me and pulls me into a hug, for a while, the only sound is the sound of my crying.

"Don't worry, Kitty Cat." She finally says "I'm here for you. It'll be okay."


	3. Chapter 3

_Cat's POV_

"Before you make any decisions," my mom tells me the following night "you need to tell Robbie. It's his baby too."

"Why?" I groan, picking up my dinner plate and carrying it to the sink "Why can't we just make it go away and pretend like it never happened?"

"Because it's morally wrong to do something like that?" She tells me "You two are obviously close enough that you should be able to tell him anything."

"Mom!" I whine "Stop it."

"I didn't even know you two were dating now..." She adds "When did that happen?"

"We're not dating!" I exclaim

"But you had sex?"

"We didn't plan on it. We...we weren't exactly in our right minds at the moment..." I sigh, leaning up against the sink "Remember how I told you someone spiked the lunch at the CowWow and it made me feel sick, so I slept over at Tori's?"

"Oh it happened after the CowWow?" She raises an eyebrow "That's romantic."

"You're not making this any easier, you know." I bite the side of my cheek "He's my best friend, thinking of him in a romantic way like this is just...it's icky!"

"I'm sorry, baby." She apologizes "I'm just trying my best to deal with this news in a positive way."

"Anyway..." I continue on with my explanation "Let's just say Robbie and I had a lot of punch, and ended up back at his house..."

"You can stop there." She tells me "I don't need those details."

"I wasn't planning on giving them to you." I laugh "Don't worry."

She stands up and brings her own plate to the sink, turns on the water and goes to grab the dish soap from the cabinet below.

"So I spoke to your brother this morning..." She says "Before you woke up."

"So you know?" I ask "About him and-"

"Tuck?" She finishes for me "Baby, it wasn't hard to tell. But I admire you for keeping that a secret for him."

"So you're not mad?"

"No." She laughs "No I'm not mad. You were just being a good little sister."

"Okay." I smile and turn to leave the room

"However..." She continues talking, so I turn around to listen "He also told me you're considering abortion..."

"Charlie..." I groan

"Honey the bill would've gotten sent here, I would've found out." She sighs "Before you get mad, I just want to let you know, I'm going to support whatever decision you make."

"Thank you."

"But..."

"But you don't think I'm making the right one." I sigh

"No I just think tha-"

She interrupted by the doorbell.

"That's Jade." I tell her and go to answer the door

"Does she know?" She asks, following me down the hall

"No." I roll my eyes "The less people who know, the better right now."

"But she's-"

"Mom. Drop it." I say as I open the door "Hey Jade."

"Hey." She laughs walking inside "You okay? Sound a little hostile..."

"Stubbed my toe on the way to answer the door." I tell her "I'm fine."

* * *

"Hey can you pass me a Q-tip, please?" I ask Jade

"Yeah sure." She responds, pulling one out of the box and handing it to me.

We're sitting on the floor in my room, painting our nails. My laptop sits a few feet in front of us, playing The Breakfast Club. We haven't been talking much, and I can't tell if it's because she can sense something is wrong with me, or if it's because we both really love this movie.

I extend my foot forward to admire my newly painted toenails, and end up kicking over my glass of water in the process.

"Shit!" I exclaim, lurching forward to grab the computer

"Hey, it's okay." Jade says, handing me the few paper towels she had next to her "It's just water."

"I know!" I snap "It's just a pain to clean up!"

"Alright." She throws her hands up in surrender "Jeez."

I shoot her a death stare as I finish cleaning up the water.

"What is going on with you?" She asks "Seriously, Cat. You're not you right now."

"I'm fine." I lie, standing up and throwing the paper towels in the trash can in the corner.

"I really don't think you are." The says sternly "Are you mad at me or something? Are you mad at one of your parents?"

"No, Jade, I...I'm not mad at anybody!"

"Are you sick?"

"Not exactly." I mutter to myself

"What?"

"Nothing!"

"Cat. Seriously. What is going on?" She exclaims "You've been moody on and off practically for weeks, you keep saying you feel like throwing up...oh my god."

She looks at me sympathetically.

"Cat..." She whispers "Please tell me you're not...no that's not even possible!"

I say nothing, but walk over to my beside table, stepping over Jade and all the nail polish as I do so, and pull open the small drawer, pulling out the ultrasound picture.

"Is this what you were thinking?" I ask, handing her the picture

"Oh my god." She gasps "Cat."

She stands up and wraps her arms around me, hugging me tightly. I feel more tears starting to form in my eyes, even a few sliding down my cheek.

"When?" She asks breaking away from me "With who? How?"

"I'm six weeks." I sigh, brushing the tears from my eyes "Remember the spiked punch from the CowWow?"

"Yeah you and Robbie never got more than ten feet away from the table, you were downing the stuff." Her eyes widen "No way. Robbie?"

I nod.

"He doesn't know yet!" I tell her "He might never find out."

"Well don't you think he'll notice?" She laughs "I mean, you're tiny, Cat. You'll show really early."

"Jade." I shake my head "I don't want to have this baby. I'm not going to have this baby. As soon as possible I'm going to the clinic and I'm-"

"Cat. Stop." She interrupts me "You can't be serious."

"I can't?"

"Sit down." She points to my bed, then grabs the laptop off the floor.

She closes out of the movie player and opens a new internet browser.

"What are you doing?" I groan

"Shut up." She tells me, typing and clicking on links rapidly.

I decide not to argue.

"Here." She turns the computer towards me "Read that paragraph to me please."

I just stare at her.

"Read it to me."

"Alright." I sigh "_Around week six, your baby's heart is changing from being a simple, single tube to a complex four chamber organ which will pump blood around their body. The heart is currently beating at around 160 beats per minute – almost twice as fast as yours_..."

"Keep going." She whispers

"_All your baby's vital organs – the kidneys, lungs and liver – are now in place too, but they still have a lot of developing left to do. The little buds which will eventually become their arms and legs are also starting to grow, while an ultrasound will show up dark spots on where the eyes and nostrils are developing and small depressions where the ears are forming._.." I read "Oh my god..."

I place a hand on the lower part of my stomach. The baby inside of me, my baby, has a heartbeat.

"It has a _heartbeat_." I whisper

"And kidneys, and lungs, and a liver." Jade laughs "It's basically a person."

"I can't kill a _person_." I say, a tear rolls down my cheek "But I can't _raise_ one either."

"You have other options than keeping it or killing it." Jade says

"Don't say it like _that_." I groan

"It's the truth though." She sighs "Listen to me, you can follow through with the pregnancy, have the baby, and if you don't think you can take care of it, give it to someone who _can_."

"You mean, like adoption?" I clarify

"Exactly like adoption."

I'm torn. I can't have a baby, but I can't live knowing I _killed_ something with a heartbeat.

Jade and I go back and forth for the rest of the night. Eventually, my mom hears us arguing and comes in to join the conversation. Of course, she sides with Jade. Then, it's two against one.

"Alright." I finally agree "I guess...I guess all go through with it."

"I'm proud of you." My mom smiles wrapping her arm around me "That's a very mature, responsible choice for you to make."

"Thanks...I guess." I sigh

"Now, you need to tell-"

"Robbie." I cut her off "I know. It's just I'm not exactly sure how I can just walk up to him and say...Jade what are you doing on my phone?"

"Texting Robbie." She shrugs "As you."

"JADE!" I exclaim and swipe my phone back going through the messages "Did you tell him?"

"No. Jesus, Cat. I'm not that insensitive." She scoffs "But you're meeting him for ice cream after work on Monday. I told him you need to talk to him about something."

"Wow. Thank you so much for that." I say sarcastically

"Isn't that what I'm here for?" She laughs


	4. Chapter 4

_Cat's POV _

"Excuse me?" A woman in probably her early twenties taps me on the shoulder "Can you unlock a dressing room for me?"

"Sure." I tell her, setting down the pair of jeans I had been folding on the table behind me "Annie can you cover register for me please?"

"On it." The other girl I'm working with responds

I work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday afternoons at 'Maggie's Fashion Boutique', a store a few blocks away from Hollywood Arts, and also happens to be one of my favorites. It's basically a more selective, classier version of Forever 21, which unfortunately makes it more expensive too, but I get my employee discount. The pay isn't half bad either, considering I'm a high school kid working part time, and the work is somewhat enjoyable.

"Here you go!" I tell the woman as I open the door from her and reattach my key ring to my jeans "Just holler of you need anything, okay? My name is Cat!"

"Thanks, Cat." She smiles, entering the room and closing the door behind her

"I'll stay on register if you finish the jeans." Annie tells me when I walk back up front

"Not fair!" I laugh "There's nobody in here to need the register! Come help me!"

"Fine." She smirks, hopping down from the stool behind the counter and walking over to the table I'm at "What time do you get off today?"

"5:30." I pull out my phone to check the time "Which is in about five minutes!"

"So you're leaving me with all these jeans?" She shrieks

"Yeah all ten pairs of them." I roll my eyes "And I technically can't leave until Mary gets here with our paychecks anyway."

"You're still getting off an hour before I am." She groans "You can go home and relax."

"Actually," I laugh "Robbie and I are going for ice cream. He's picking me up."

"Like a date?" She asks

"No!" I exclaim "Like two best friends hanging out. God. No. Not like a date, he's my best friend, I can't think of him like that, it's too weird."

"Alright, Cat." She chuckles "Whatever."

"It's true!"

"Surely my employees aren't arguing while there are customers in the store!" My boss, Mary laughs as she enters the store "Good afternoon, ladies."

"Hi Mary." We say in unison

"Cat you're supposed to be off now aren't you?" She asks

"Yup!" I respond "Just waiting for my ride!"

"And for your paycheck?" She laughs, holding up an envelope with my name on it.

"Yeah and that." I smirk, running over and grabbing the envelope from her, just as the front door opens, causing the jingle bells attached to it to start making noise "Hi! Welcome to- oh, hey Robbie. Sorry, it's habit."

"It's cool." He chuckles "You ready to go?"

"Can I go?" I ask Mary

"It's 5:32." She smiles, looking at her watch "You're off the clock! See you tomorrow!"

I move behind the counter, pulling my zip up hoodie and backpack from underneath. After saying goodbye to Mary and Annie again, I follow Robbie out the door.

"Hey can you hold this for me?" I ask, handing my backpack to him so I can out my jacket on

"Sure." He says, taking the bag from me and slipping it over his shoulders.

"Oh that's cute." I say sarcastically "I'll take it back now."

"No I think it looks good on me!" He moves away

"Alright, I'm not going to chase you for it." I laugh as we approach the car "Hey can I drive?"

"No!" He smiles, unlocking the car and throwing my backpack in the back seat

"Why not?" I frown "I have my license with me!"

"You can drive when we take your car..." He tells me "...and I'll drive when we take mine."

"I don't have a car!" I pout climbing into the passenger seat

"Fine. You can drive when we take your Mom's." He smirks "It's a minivan, right?"

"Shut up!" I smack his shoulder as he starts "It's a Prius!"

"I know, I know. I'm just giving you a hard time." He chuckles "So you said you wanted to talk to me about something? What's up?"

I hesitate for a moment before saying,

"Ice cream first! Talk later! I'm starving and I've been craving strawberry sherbet all day!"

'_Craving', good job, Cat. Girls say that all the time though, he won't notice right?_

"Wow, tough day?" He chuckles

I'm safe, for now.

"I'm just hungry!" I tell him "You don't wanna piss off a hungry girl do you?"

"No." He laughs "No I don't."

* * *

"That has to be one of the most interesting ice cream-topping combinations I have ever seen." Robbie tells me when we're almost done with our ice cream

"It just sounded really good for some reason." I shrug, staring down at my dish of strawberry sherbet, topped with butterscotch sauce, gummy worms, and chocolate sprinkles

"Don't you hate butterscotch?" He asks

"What? I'm not allowed to have mixed feelings on ice cream condiments?" I smirk "Hey can I have some of your water?"

He laughs and pushes his water bottle towards me, then finishes the last bite of his ice cream cone.

My phone buzzes on the table next to me, alerting me I have a text message

_From: Jade _

_Have you told him yet?_

Quickly, I respond,

_No. Not yet. _

A few seconds pass before she sends,

_Do it now. Rip off the band aid._

I slip my phone into my back pocket and take a sip of Robbie's water.

"So." He says nudging my ankle with the tip of his show under the table "You've got you're ice cream, let's talk. Is everything okay? You having boy issues? Can I beat him up for you?"

"Uh, no. Not exactly." I smile "Um, let's see, where do I start with this. Well, for one thing, I need you to promise not to freak out."

"Cross my heart." He traces an x on his heart "Is something wrong?"

"Remember the CowWow?" I ask him

"Yeah of course, Tori and Andre sang a song, everybody danced, it was great. Why?"

"No not that part..." I sigh "I'm talking about the part that came after the actual dance."

"I thought we weren't taking about that?" He whispers, his tone harsh "Like ever."

"Yeah, yeah I know. It was awkward for both of us." I play nervously with my hands in my lap "But we need to talk about it now."

"Why?"

"Be...because..." I hesitate "Because...well...because..."

"Spit it out, Cat." He says flatly

"Because I'm pregnant!" I exclaim

His face goes blank and he slumps back in his chair.

"Don't be mad." I beg "Please."

He reaches forward and grabs his water bottle from me, which I'm more than willing to give him, and tips back the entire bottle in five seconds flat. He stands up and sighs heavily, running a hand through his hair.

"Remember you said you wouldn't freak out." I remind him

"Marry me." He turns to face me

"What?"

"You heard me." He says "Marry me. I'm serious."

"Okay that, right there, what you just said, is the definition of freaking out." I tell him "Just, sit down, please and talk about this with me."

Let lets out a long breath and sits back down in his chair across from me.

"Okay." I say calmly, taking his hand across the table "We can't get married, okay? That's not logical. We're not old enough and we don't have romantic feelings for each other."

"Yeah..." He sighs "Yeah, you're right. Sorry."

"No it's okay, I understand it's a lot to take in." I nod "Besides, it wouldn't be right to get married, especially if we're not keeping it."

"Wait." He stops me "You don't want to keep it?"

"We are seventeen years old, Robbie." I say sternly "We are in no shape to be raising a baby, you're just lucky my mom and Jade talked me out of abor-"

"You were going to abort it?" He exclaims, getting to his feet "Were you even going to tell me?"

"Robbie." I beg, closing my eyes "Sit down. Please."

"That's my baby too, Cat!" He points "I should get a say!"

"We need to think about what's best for us!" I fire back "And what's best for the baby!"

"You know what?" He tells me "I...I can't look at you right now."

He takes his jacket off the back of his chair and starts putting it on as he exits the ice cream parlor.

"Robbie!" I call after him

He doesn't respond. So I watch him walk out to his car, start it, and drive away.

"You were my ride home." I whisper


	5. Chapter 5

_Cat's POV _

Later that night, I lay in bed, desperate for sleep, but too emotionally exhausted to find it. A half eaten carton of strawberry ice cream sits on my bedside table, and dried tears cause my face to stick to my pillow case. I can't stop thinking about how much Robbie must hate me.

My mom had to come pick me up from the ice cream place, and but the time she got there, I was already in tears. She tried to cheer me up in every way possible, but in the end I just wanted to be left alone. I've done a lot of thinking, about the baby mostly, and how awful I feel right now. I realized, if I choose abortion, I'll feel awful like this for the rest of my life, knowing I killed something so innocent.

So here I am, laying on my bed, staring at the same wall I have been since seven o'clock when I got home, the only noise is the sound of my fan spinning in circles on the ceiling. In addition to the awful gut feeling I've had since Robbie stormed out, now I also feel terrified for the next seven or so months I have ahead of me.

A few minutes pass until a new noise appears in my room, something that sounds like tapping outside my window. At first I think it's nothing, but when it persists, I get up to investigate.

As I look out the window, I see a figure standing in the middle of the yard, and the closer I look, I see it's Robbie, throwing rocks at the window.

How cliché.

Quickly, I unlatch the window and open it.

"Robbie Shapiro!" I scold "It's after 9:30! What are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?" He yells "I need to talk to you!"

I hesitate, I'm so unsure of how I should feel towards him, but I need him on my side, and if I say no, he'll just stay out there and wake the neighbors.

I point for him to meet me at the front door, and close the window.

Quietly, I creep out of my room and down the stairs, careful not to wake my mother. She's put up with me enough tonight.

"If you're going to be mad at me, fine." I snap when I open the door and step onto the porch, turning on the light as I do so. "Thats fine. I can do this by myself."

"I'm actually here to apologize to you." He sighs "You're right, I wasn't thinking clearly."

"What changed your mind?"

"I haven't been home yet." He tells me "I've just been driving around, thinking, you know? And I think you're right, we can't have a baby right now. And.."

"And...?"

"And it's your body, I'm the one who got you pregnant..." He tells me "So I'm going to support your choice. If you wanna keep it, great let's keep it! If you want to choose adoption, awesome, I'm all for it! If you want...if you want to abort it...then go ahead."

"Thank you..." I hug him "Really that means so much."

"You're welcome." He hugs me back

"I'm going adoption, okay?" I say quietly "I mean, it's just an innocent little baby...the more I think about it the more sure I become that I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I go through with that kind of a thing."

"Thank god." He exhales "Alright, that's fine. That's great, actually! I'm behind you one hundred percent, okay?"

"Okay."

We stand there, hugging for a while.

"Best friends?" I finally whisper

"Best friends." He agrees

"It's kind of cold out here..." I sigh

"Maybe that's because you're wearing shorts and a tank top..." He chuckles "Do you mind if I come in for a bit? I think we need to talk about some stuff..."

"Yeah," I agree turning around and opening the door "Come on in, just be quiet okay? My mom is asleep."

He nods and follows me in, closing the door quietly behind him.

"Do want something to drink?" I ask when we enter the kitchen "I could make a pot of coffee...I mean I'm not allowed to drink any for the next eight months but I feel like I owe you for completely destroying your evening."

"Hey don't say that." He tells me "You didn't destroy anything."

"So is that a 'no' to the coffee then?"

"I'm good right now." He says "Thank you though."

"You're welcome." I respond and hop up onto the kitchen island "Sooooo..."

"Sooo..." He shuffles his foot back and forth "It was the CowWow? So you're what...a month or so?"

"Six weeks." I correct him "Actually, I guess it's technically seven now."

"Woah." He takes a deep breath "So it'll be here around like..."

"Christmas." I finish for him "I'm due the week after Christmas."

"That's so cool!" He exclaims "Can you tell it's in there?"

"You mean tell I'm pregnant?" I clarify "I have morning sickness that comes at all times of day, I get nauseous at the scent of the most random things and apparently I'm moody as hell lately...I think that solidifies it."

"No...I mean..." He chuckles "Can you _feel_ it?"

I smile, biting my lip, and shake me head.

"Everything I see on the internet says it's the size of, like, a blueberry." I explain "It's too little for me to feel it. Yet."

"Oh..." he's quiet for a minute "So...so who else knows besides me?"

"Just my mom, Charlie, and Jade." I tell him "I mean, I only found out a few days ago..."

"Did your mom take it okay?" He asks "Does she know I'm the dad?"

"About as well as a parent can react to finding out their teenage daughter is pregnant, I guess." I shrug "And yeah, she knows it you."

"How'd she take _that_?"

"She laughed." I smirk, which causes him to do the same "Don't take offense to it, I just think you were the _last_ person she was expecting when she asked about it."

"True." He laughs "I mean, we're not even in a relationship, confusion is understandable. We...we're not in a relationship, right?"

"No!" I exclaim "God, no! Oh that sounded so mean! I'm sorry! I just-"

"I get it." He holds a hand up, laughing "We're best friends, thinking about being in a relationship, it's..."

"Icky." I scrunch my nose up, giggling

"I was gonna say _weird_." He tells me "But icky works too..."

"Robbie..." I say seriously "I don't want anything to have to change between the two of us, just because of...this."

"Why would anything change?" He asks "You're still gonna be my best friend."

"Because...I don't know." A tear slides down my cheek "It's gonna be awkward. Usually when two people have a baby they're actually ready to have a baby and they love each other."

"Hey hey hey." He rushes over to me "Don't cry, don't cry. We do love each other, but not like boyfriends and girlfriends love each other, like brothers and sisters love each other."

"Brothers and sisters don't have babies together, Robbie..." I giggle, brushing the tears away

"You know what I meant." He smiles "Come here."

He opens his arms, and I hop off the counter and walk into them. He hugs me tight for a few seconds. Before telling me to go upstairs and get some sleep.

"It's been a long day." He sighs

"It's been a long week." I laugh "I've gone from a normal teenager to pregnant to getting an abortion to now actually going to have a baby."

"Sounds like quite a week."

"It's just the start." I tell him


	6. Chapter 6

_Cat's POV_

"Can you tell?" I ask Jade turning towards her

"Oh my god for the hundredth time, no!" Jade exclaims "And unless you'd like the entire school to know in a matter of days, I suggest you stop asking me that in the locker room."

"Right." I agree pulling my regular shirt on over my head, then reaching down and throwing my gym shoes in my PE locker.

"Yeah Cat I can hear you from over here." Tori says, appearing over the top of the lockers on the opposite side "However, I will admit that out of context I would have no idea what you're talking about."

"Get off the bench before someone yells at you." Jade tells her "Come over here and talk to us like a normal person."

Tori rolls her eyes and hops down, then appears the end of our row of lockers a few seconds later. I had told her about the baby, as well as Beck and Andre, earlier this week.

"Are we hanging out tonight?" She asks

"Sure." Jade shrugs "Cat?"

"Can't." I sigh "I'm at Daddy Dearest's this weekend."

"Okay he lives like ten minutes away." Jade says "You can still catch a movie."

"The sooner I tell him about the...you know...the better." I tell her "And once I do tell him, I'll be banished to my room for the rest of the weekend."

"So tell him tomorrow so we can go to the movies." Tori says like it's the most obvious thing in the world "Duh."

"I just want to get it over with, guys." I beg "Please! We can go next weekend when I'm with the reasonable parent!"

"Your dad isn't that bad." Jade says as we start walking out of the locker room to our next classes

"Yes but that's in public. At home he's totally different. No matter what I do, It's never good enough for him." I explain "Add this on top, I doubt I'll be his favorite person on the planet."

"Alright, well..." Tori sighs "Text us and keep us updated."

"Yeah, tell us if we need to send the boys to beat him up." Jade adds

"Thanks guys." I laugh as we separate to walk to our respective classes.

* * *

"Do you want me to come in with you?" My mom asks when we pull up in front of my Dad's apartment building "For moral support?"

"No." I shake my head "I've done this enough times in the past week, I think I can handle it."

"Yes but you and I both know your father _isn't_ the most reasonable person in the world." She reminds me "You sure you'll be okay?"

"Yeah." I nod, trying to convince myself of the fact too "Yeah, I'll be okay."

"Okay." She smiles, leaning over and kissing my cheek "I'll see you Sunday night, okay? I love you."

"I love you too." I tell her, then open the car door, stepping onto the sidewalk.

After retrieving my backpack and small overnight bag from the backseat, I stand waving goodbye until my mom's car disappears at the end of the street. Then I turn around and enter the apartment complex behind me.

My father is a very successful lawyer, so of course, he has to have the penthouse apartment to match. 3 bedrooms(each with it's own balcony), a full eat-in kitchen, a complete living and dining room, as well as a study. It takes the entire top floor of his building.

I step off the elevator and walk the few steps to the door, inserting my key in the lock, turning it, and stepping inside the apartment.

"Hi Dad!" I call

There's no answer, so I assume he's in the same place he always is, his office. When he's not there either, I walk into the kitchen, dropping my bags on the floor. Looking around, I spy a note left on the counter. In my father's handwriting it reads:

_Caterina,_

_Had a meeting with an important client 4:00 today. _

_We're meeting your brother and Chelsea for dinner tonight, be ready at 7, I'll pick you up. _

_Love Dad_

"Awesome." I sigh "You're not even home."

I pick my bags up off the floor and drag them down the hall to my room.

Besides the occasional school portrait or family picture on the wall, you can't even tell my father has any children from the look of his apartment. My bedroom is tucked away in the back of the apartment, and Charlie's has been converted to a guest room.

When I enter my bedroom, I set my bags down and collapse on the bed, spread eagle. I've felt exhausted all day, and I just want to take a nap, but glancing at the clock I see it's already 5:30, which means I'll have to start getting ready for dinner soon.

"Of all the nights." I groan, getting to my feet and walking over to my closet.

Most of the clothes I keep at my dad's are school clothes and pajamas, nothing really fit for fancy dinners. I have one dress, it's white with a light pink and green floral pattern. I haven't worn it in almost a year, and it's usually intended for summer, but it's early May now, and it's not like I have many other options so I go with it. I lay it out on my bed, along with a pair of white flats, and go to my bathroom to plug in my hair straightener. The perk of being the only female living in the apartment (before Chelsea came along of course), I got the room with it's own bathroom attached.

After plugging the straightener into the wall, I stop and look at myself in the mirror. To somebody who had never met me before, I'd look like an ordinary teenage girl, with a not so ordinary choice in hair color, nobody would even guess I'm harboring a giant secret.

I take a step back from my reflection and turn sideways, lifting my shirt up as I do so, so my bare stomach is showing. I rest my hand on the spot about where my diaphragm would be, it looks like I've just had a big dinner or something. At this point I'm wondering if Jade was just trying to tell me what I wanted to hear in the locker room this afternoon, or if I'm just being paranoid.

* * *

"I certainly hope you're feeling better this weekend, Cat." Chelsea tells me when we take our seats at dinner later that night "I was hoping we could maybe could take a shopping trip sometime this weekend. You know, just us girls."

"Sure." I nod "That'd be great."

If you'll even want to look at me after I tell you.

"Dad, want to take me shopping?" Charlie laughs "Just us guys."

"No thank you, Charles." My father smiles "I think I'll pass."

The four of us all laugh as the waitress sets down our drinks. Three glasses of red wine and a ginger ale. You can probably guess who gets what.

"You seem to be drinking lots more ginger ale, Caterina." My father observes "Glad to see you've discovered a healthier alternative to that awful cola drink."

"It's less harsh on my stomach." I tell him "And why can't you just call me, Cat? Everybody else does."

"Everybody is entitled to make their own choices." He smirks "Some people may choose to call you by your nickname, however, when you were born, your mother and I gave you the name Caterina. As you start approaching adulthood, I'm choosing to call you by the more mature name that was given to you at birth. Same for your brother."

"Alright." I respond, taking a sip of my drink, not really knowing what else to do.

"Soooooo..." Charlie says, sensing the awkwardness "Dad. Remember the promotion I told you about last week? I honestly think they're going to give it to me."

"Congratulations son." He smiles "I'm proud of you."

_Way to go, Charlie. Now I'm really going to look like a disappointment._

He glances over at me, knowing he's just made things worse, and mouths 'sorry'.

We order our meals. Dad and Charlie get steaks, Chelsea gets a shrimp and chicken plate, and I get a salad, causing my father to make another remark about my 'healthy choices' as of late.

Dad and Charlie talk more about his job, he pesters me about school and what I might possibly want to do career-wise. Then he brags more to Chelsea about his new client. It's a stereotypical dinner with my father, no different than any other time we've gone out in the past few years.

As the evening starts to wind down, I pull my phone out under the table and text Charlie.

_Distract Chelsea, please_. I say.

He looks down at his phone, glances up at me, then responds

_Are you sure this is really where you want to do this? Right now?_

I nod.

He shrugs and directs his attention across the table to our father's girlfriend.

"Chelsea?" He asks, standing up "Would you like to accompany me to have a look at the dessert cart?"

"I would love to, Charlie." She blushes, standing up also "Would anyone else like to come?"

My father and I both shake our heads, and the two of them walk away arm-in-arm towards the cart full of dessert trays across the restaurant.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay, Caterina?" My father asks me "It's not like you to turn down a red velvet cupcake."

"I told you..." I sigh "I'm trying to eat a little healthier. Besides, I'm full from dinner."

"Again. I've never known Caterina Valentine to turn down red velvet anything under circumstances of any kind." He says "Go on, pick one out and take it home with you."

"I told you, I don't want one." I say, probably sounding more angry than I had intended to

"Is something wrong?" He reaches across the table to grab my hand, the one I had been using to play with a discarded straw wrapper on the table "If something happened, you can tell me."

"You'll just be disappointed." I roll my eyes

"Well now you have to tell me." He says sternly "What kind of trouble did you get yourself into this time?"

"_This time_?" I scoff, pulling my hand away "Dad, I've been alive for seventeen years and never _once_ have I gotten in _legitimate_ trouble."

"Judging by your tone and hostility, I'm guessing you're in some now." He says angrily "Tell me what happened, Caterina. Right now."

"Two months ago, I went to a dance at school." I whisper "Somebody spiked the punch with vodka, no one had any idea until the next morning. I woke up in bed next to my best guy friend...and...and..."

"And what?"

"And..." I hesitate "And apparently, I got pregnant."

"You what?" He exclaims

"Daddy, please." I beg "Don't make a scene."

"Don't...don't make a _scene_?" He whisper yells "You seriously think this was the best place to tell me this, Caterina? Not only did you admit to getting_ drunk_, but to having _sex _and getting _pregnant_?"

"Dad! It was an _accident_!" I explain

"It always is!" He yells, standing up "I'm taking you to the clinic first thing in the morning, understood? I'll even pay for it myself! This is the _last_ time I clean up your mess for you though, is that clear?"

"That's not your decision to make!" I yell back "I don't want to raise a child, but I don't want to _kill_ one either!"

"Woah woah woah!" Chelsea interrupts, running back to the table as fast as her high heels can carry her, Charlie following closely behind "What on earth is going on over here?"

"Nothing." My father shrugs "Just my daughter telling me all about her plans to _ruin_ her life!"

"I'm pregnant!" I admit to her, tears running down my face as Charlie wraps his arms around me "And he doesn't support my choice to have the baby and give it up for adoption! He wants me to _kill_ it!"

"You decided adoption?" Charlie gasps, hugging me tighter "Oh Cat, that's great!"

"You knew about this, Charles?" Dad exclaims lividly "Did everybody know _except_ me?"

"I didn't know." Chelsea chimes in "Everybody, calm down, we're causing a scene."

"I'll cause a scene if I want to!" Dad exclaims "I will not have _my_ daughter known as the local high school slut!"

"So that's what this is about!" I fire back, continuing to cry "You don't care about _me_, you care about what all your lawyer buddies at the firm are going to think!"

"_Nobody_ wants a slut for a daughter, Caterina!"

"Dad, that's enough!" Charlie steps in "Yeah, you know what? Cat is kinda in a bad situation right now, but yelling at her will get you _nowhere_!"

"Charles..."

"I support her one hundred percent." He says proudly, hugging me closer to him "And if you can't handle the fact you have a pregnant teenage daughter, you'd probably have a heart attack knew if you're successful, business man of a son was gay, wouldn't you?"

"_Charlie_!" I gasp

"What?" My father asks "Are you kidding me?"

"Nope." Charlie laughs "Surprise, Dad."

I turn my head from where I had been hiding it in Charlie's chest to see my father's face, literally red with anger. Like a volcano that could explode any second.

"Charlie..." Chelsea sighs "Why don't you and your sister go walk around town for a few...a few hours, _I'll_ talk to your father."

Charlie nods in agreement, grabs his sport coat off the back of his chair, hand me my purse, and leads me out of the restaurant.

"You didn't have to do that." I tell him once we're outside

"Yes I did. I'd hidden it long enough." He smirks "Besides, now he's mad at both of us."

* * *

When I return to my father's apartment later that night, I expect to find my bags packed and waiting by the door for me. Instead, I see a note from my dad explaining he has a meeting in the morning, but that he'll talk to me when I get home from my shift at Maggie's.

"He's already gone to bed for the night." Chelsea says from the couch, making me jump

"Oh!" I jump "Sorry, didn't see you sitting there."

"Sorry for scaring you." She stands up and walks over to me "He's calmed down some."

"He still probably wants to disown me." I sigh "Right?"

"I don't know, sweetheart." She says sympathetically "I really don't."

A tear slides down my cheek and lands on my shoulder, then continues running down my arm.

"Oh Cat," she moves towards me, pulling me into a hug "I'm sure everything will be okay."

"How do you know?" I ask

"I don't." She admits "I just have this hunch...and by the way, that shopping trip offer still stands."

"Thank you." I smile

It's the first time I've smiled all evening.


	7. Chapter 7

_Cat's POV_

When I get off work the next day, I expect to see my father's black BMW sitting on the curb right outside the store, waiting for me. However, when I step outside, he's nowhere to be seen.

I take my phone out of my purse to see if he's texted when I hear someone calling my name.

"Cat!" They call "Cat over here!"

I look up to see Chelsea parked across the street, hanging out the window of her blue Mini Cooper.

I wave to her, and after waiting for a few cars to pass, run across the street to get into the car.

"Hi." She greets me "How was work?"

"Fine, I guess." I tell her "I thought my dad was picking me up?"

"He was going to..." She sighs "He ended up having to stay a little later at work this morning than he thought."

"Sounds like him." I scoff

"Hey, sometimes it can't be helped." She tries convincing me "Besides, now we have an excuse to go shopping!"

"Sounds to me like he's trying to avoid me." I sigh "God, I _knew_ this would happen."

"Your father is a strong-headed person, Cat. That's not your fault." She tells me "And for what it's worth, _I'm_ on your side."

"Thank you." I sigh and sink down into my seat

"Hey!" She snaps her fingers "Don't sit like that! It'll kill your back! And you'll need that soon enough."

I roll my eyes and sit up straight again.

"Are you only doing this because you feel bad for me?" I ask

"Not at all." She shakes her head "I offered to do this before you told us, remember?"

"Yeah." I smirk and lean my head against the window

* * *

"This wasn't exactly the kind of shopping I had in mind." I admit as Chelsea pulls me into the maternity store

"Cat, you are one of the smallest girls I have ever met," She says "you're going to start showing long before you'll expect to. And don't worry, if any of your friends see us, you can say we were shopping for me.

"Chelsea." I groan

"Cat." She mimics me "Come on, just have a look around. We have your father's credit card."

I must perk up once she says that, because she begins to laugh.

"You know, you're acting more like an older sister right now than a step-mom." I tell her

"I'm your father's girlfriend, not your step-mom." She corrects me "I'm supposed to be cool."

"You'll probably end up my step-mom." I say

"We'll see." She smirks "However, I'm going to enjoy being the cool girlfriend. Because as soon as I become the step-mom I turn evil, right?"

"_Right_." I laugh as I look through the racks "God, there's _nothing_ cute here!"

"Come on, that's not true. Here, look at this." She holds up a lavender sweater "Pair this with a pair of white jeans and flats, it's adorable."

"And where am I going to find white maternity jeans, exactly?" I ask

She points to the wall of jeans behind me.

"Oh."

I continue searching through the racks of shirts, trying to find something acceptable for a seventeen year old girl to wear. Then it really starts to set in.

_I'm having a baby._

I'm not going to be raising a baby, but I'm going to have one. I'm going to be pregnant, and go through labor, and it's going to be hell. But in the end, someone will have a baby.

"Sooo..." Chelsea sighs appearing next to me "Do you want to get something to eat after this? You're probably starving..."

"Maybe after we finish up here, sure." I nod "That'd be nice."

"We can go wherever you want!" She tells me "Those cravings must be driving you insane."

"They're not so bad." I laugh "It seems to really like strawberry sherbet, which I don't mind so much."

"It?" She gives me a puzzled look

"The baby." I remind her "Who also really hates sugary stuff before lunchtime and fish pretty much anytime..."

"No sugary stuff at breakfast? What do you eat then?"

"I never used to eat breakfast actually...but apparently skipping it is really bad for the baby. So I've started eating cereal and toast."

"That's good to hear." She smiles "I'm glad."

I end up getting the purple sweater, along with two other shirts I can wear during the summer when it's hot, two pairs of jeans, a pair of jean shorts, and a sundress.

"Thanks for all of this." I say to Chelsea as we're leaving

"Don't thank me." She smirks and waves the credit card at me "Thank your father."

* * *

"Looks like you two had fun." My father sighs as Chelsea and I enter the apartment "Spend all my money, did you?"

"Not all of it." I smirk

"Just _most_ of it." Chelsea laughs "We were good, dear. Don't worry."

"Well I'm happy you're back," he tells us "I've been needing to talk to Caterina."'

"Disowning me, are you?" I ask

"Do not cop an attitude with me, young lady." He warns "Come, sit down."

I move and sit down on the couch. Far enough away for comfort, but close enough we can still have a conversation.

"So what is it then?" I sigh "Are you still forcing me into an abortion? Because I just dropped two hundred of your dollars on maternity clothes."

"_Caterina_..."

"Or is there a nice guy you know from the firm? Have him and his wife been dying for a baby and you decided you'll give them mine?"

"Caterina. Let me talk." He says sternly

I cross my arms across my chest and sink back against the couch as he begins talking to me.

"Now...I talked to your mother this morning." He begins

"Wow." I look at Chelsea "I got them talking to each other!"

She shakes her head, hinting for me to stop talking. I roll my eyes and oblige.

"I've talked to your mother." He continues "And I told her I'm not so sure it's best for you to be staying here in the next few months..."

"What do you mean?" I ask

"I don't think it's healthy for you _or_ the baby for you to be constantly be switching living environments every other week." He explains "So until the baby is born, you'll be with your mother full time. I'll pay for all the doctors visits, I'll buy the new clothes when you need them but..."

"Wait, what?" I gasp "Are you kicking me out?"

"I just want what's best for you..." He sighs

"No." I shake my head "No you want what's best for _you_! You don't want any of your work buddies to find out about your disgrace of a daughter!"

"That's not what I said..."

"You didn't have to say it." I snap, standing up "I'm a big girl, _Daddy_. I know how the world works, I can read between the lines!"

I storm off to my room and pull my bag out of the closet, stuffing everything I had brought for the weekend into it. I pull my phone out and dial my moms number, holding it to my ear as it rings.

My dad enters the room, looking like he's going to try and stop me, but just stares at me while I talk.

"Cat sweetie?" My mom answers "Is everything okay?"

"No." I shake my head "I want to come home, will you come get me?"

"I'll drive you..." My dad offers

I shoot him a death glare, he raises his hands in surrender.

"Sure." She answers "I can be there in ten minutes. I'm assuming he told you about his plan."

"Yeah." I glance at my father "Yeah he did. Apparently he doesn't want the world to know about his disgrace of a daughter."

"That's not what I said, Caterina." He sighs

"Was I talking to _you_?" I snap

"Cat? Sweetie? I'll get there as soon as I can, okay? I love you." My mother says "I'll see you soon."

"Okay, bye." I say

I hang up my phone and stick it in my back pocket, and continue shoving clothes into my bag. When I'm done, I grab it off the bed, put my backpack on and shove past my father.

"Hey!" He exclaims "Don't leave like this. Really, Caterina. I'm just looking out for you."

"Chelsea!" I call as I start making my way towards the door

"Yes?" She responds

"Thank you for taking me shopping." I hug her "And thank you for being on my side. I guess I'll see you after Christmas."

"You're welcome..." She frowns "Fell free to let me know if you need anything between then and now, okay?"

"Me too." My father adds

"Thanks I will." I say to her, ignoring my father completely

I start to move towards the door, picking up my shopping bags as I go. Just as I'm about to step out, my father says,

"What, you're not going to say goodbye to me?"

"Goodbye, Daddy." I sigh "I'll see you after Christmas, you know. When I'm not a _disgrace_ anymore."

I don't even hear his response as I slam the door behind me.

* * *

Not even fifteen minutes after my mom and I arrive home, the doorbell rings. I'm busy putting all of my clothes away upstairs, so my mom answers. A minute later, there's a knock at my door. I turn to see Robbie leaning against the door frame, a small to-go cup from my favorite ice cream place in his hand.

"Hey." He smirks "I thought you might like some strawberry sherbet."

"Awww." I gush as he walks towards me "Thank you so much!"

I had texted him as soon as I had exited my father's apartment and told him everything.

"Your dad is an asshole." He admits "Sorry."

"Don't be." I sigh "He...he just uses my brother and I as business tools to make him look better. And now that I'm not perfect anymore he doesn't want me to be around. Last night he couldn't even look me in the eye..."

"Hey now...no need to get worked up over him." Robbie pulls me into a hug "He's not worth it."

"I know." I whisper, hugging him back "Thank you for the ice cream."

"You're welcome." He laughs, moving away "I'm partially responsible for this, might as well help however I can right?"

"I guess." I smirk "Hey, do you wanna stay and watch a movie? Maybe order a pizza? God I want pizza now!"

"I would love to." He chuckles "But I can't. I...I actually have a date tonight."

"Oooh!" I squeal "With who?"

"Lydia Carter." He blushes

"Robbie!" I exclaim "That's awesome."

Lydia is the same age as us, and goes to our school too. She runs cross country in the fall, then spends the rest of the year participating in basically every dance company our school runs. She was in my hip hop class last semester. She's super sweet, a little awkward, but super sweet, pretty too. Perfect for Robbie.

"Thanks." He grins and starts moving towards the door "But I've gotta get going, I need to change before I pick her up."

"Aw you're not going in your gym shorts and sweatshirt?" I tease "But you look so sexy."

"Bye Cat." He laughs and rolls his eyes as he stands in the doorway again "Bye baby!"

"Don't talk to the baby, it can't hear you!" I tell him

"Whatever." He waves "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Have fun!" I call and run after him "Just be careful okay, don't get her pregnant too!"

"Your confidence is flattering, Cat!" He calls back as he reaches the bottom of the stairs

I giggle and run back to my room, opening the window as he walks down the driveway to get into his car.

"THANKS FOR THE ICE CREAM, BEST FRIEND!" I yell to him

"YOURE WELCOME, BEST FRIEND!" He yells back "BUT I REALLY NEED TO GO NOW."

"OKAY BYE!" I wave

I watch him get in his car and drive away. I close the window and grab my ice cream off the desk, opening the lid, grabbing the spoon and starting to eat it. I think about what Robbie had done as he left...

"_Can_ you hear me?" I ask, in the general direction of my abdomen "Of course you can't, you don't have ears yet."

"Talking to someone?" My mother asks, appearing at the doorway

"What?" I say "No."

"Were you talking to the baby?" She smirks

"No." I shake my head

"Yeah okay." She laughs "So Robbie has a date, huh?"

"Yeah." I nod "With Lydia Carter. I hope it works out."

"Do you?"

"Yeah? Why wouldn't I?"

"Look. All I'm saying is you were absolutely devastated until that boy got here and now you're your bubbly self again." She smirks

"Because he brought_ food_." I hold up the ice cream dish

"Okay, sweetheart." She laughs and walks back down the hall


	8. Chapter 8

_Cat's POV_

Weeks pass. The weather grew warmer, our junior year of high school drew to a close, and I was anxious for three months of summer vacation when there was little to nothing to worry about.

You know, except for the tiny human that had taken up residence in my abdomen.

My stomach began to swell, my clothes stopped fitting. Not enough that you could really tell I was pregnant, and not enough that I needed to wear my maternity clothes, but enough I needed to go up a size or two. Thankfully it was summer, so it never really mattered what I wore, unless I was at work.

My dad called a few times in the five weeks since I last saw him, but I ignored him. I sent every call to voicemail, and on the off chance I decided to actually listen to a message he left, I never called back. Any information I got from him, I got from Charlie or my mom. It was always the same. '_He wants you to call him_.' Or '_He wants to explain_.' Well, I didn't want to call him, and I certainly didn't need an explanation. I knew what he had meant, I didn't need him to say it again and have the words cut even deeper.

When I'm not working, I'm hanging out with my friends, or with Charlie when he's not at work, but that rarely happens now that he did actually end up getting that promotion.

Not much of my life has changed, apart from being tired and hungry all the time, and this new set of limitations that comes with being pregnant.

"I'm sorry you couldn't go along today." Robbie apologizes as we enter the kitchen at my mom's house "I'll take you over spring break, I promise."

"It's no big deal." I tell him "Really, and you totally could've gone with them. I would've been fine."

Tori, Jade, Beck and Andre had gone to Six Flags Magic Mountain for the day. Robbie and I had been invited as well, but pregnant women can't ride roller coasters, and Robbie said he wanted to stay with me so I wouldn't be alone all day while my mom was at work.

"Well I didn't want you to be by yourself all day!" He tells me "Besides, who would've picked you up from work?"

"I have a bike." I laugh "Or I could've walked, that's supposed to be really good for me."

"Maggie's is like two miles away!" Robbie exclaims "No way in hell. Whenever you need a ride, call me. I'd be more than happy to help."

"And what does your girlfriend think about that?" I smirk

"She understands completely, thank you very much!"

Robbie and Lydia were coming up on their one month anniversary. As a girl, I know that if there's anything more threatening to a relationship than the guy's female best friend, it's the guy's female best friend he just happened to accidentally get pregnant.

"I'm just teasing you!" I laugh "I love Lydia. I think you two are great together."

"Thanks so do I." He smiles "Hey what do you do for a one month anniversary?"

"You buy her flowers and take her for dinner and a movie." I say without hesitation "But don't tell her. Just say she needs to be dressed nicely and ready at a certain time, then make the entire thing a surprise."

"Flowers. Dinner. Movie. Surprise." He repeats "Got it. See? This is the benefit to having a girl best friend."

"That's the only benefit?" I raise an eyebrow

"Well...no..." He hesitates "You're great! Honestly! It's-"

"Teasing you again." I chuckle

"Cute." He rolls his eyes, opening the fridge "Popsicle?"

"Yes please!" I smile

"What flavor?" He asks

"Hmmm..." I think for a second "The baby says orange."

"Orange it is." He smirks, pulling an orange Popsicle out of the box and throwing it in my direction.

I catch it and unwrap it quickly, sticking it in my mouth as I throw the wrapper away.

"Oh my god!" I shriek "Brain freeze!"

I press my tongue to the roof of my mouth and start bouncing up and down on my toes.

"What on earth are you doing?" Robbie laughs as he throws his own Popsicle wrapper in the trash

"If you press your tongue to the roof of your mouth, it helps get rid of the brain freeze." I explain

"And what does the bouncing do?"

"Nothing!" I giggle "It's just fun!"

"You're hilarious, you know that?"

"Thanks!" I exclaim "I try!"

A glob of melted orange syrup drips down off my popcicle and onto my shirt. My white shirt. One of my few shirts that actually fits me right now.

"Shit..." I mutter and move to the sink, trying my best to rub the color off with a damp cloth "This is gonna stain..."

"It's not that big of a deal..." Robbie tells me "I'm sure it will wash out."

"This is one of the few shirts that actually fits me right now..." I sigh, turning around to face him, resting a hand on my tiny baby bump as I do so "If it's ruined, that's just more and more laundry."

"Well then go change!" He insists "We'll get in the laundry right away then."

"Okay." I chuckle, exiting the kitchen and making my way upstairs towards my room.

Once I get there, I pull the white shirt off over my head, tossing it to the side. I walk over to my dresser dig around, looking for something that will fit. From the bottom of one of my drawers, I pull out a grey baseball style t shirt, with black sleeves and a giant LA Kings logo on it. It had belonged to Charlie when he was in high school, he gave it to me when he went away to college, so that when I missed him, I could wear it and feel like I was "wearing a big Charlie hug". I was ten, back then it looked like a dress on me, but now it actually fits like a normal shirt. Which gives me an idea...

"ROBBIE!" I call, picking up my shirt and making my way back downstairs

"Yeah?" He calls back "Everything okay?"

"Yeah I'm good." I say, entering the kitchen "I just...I had an idea..."

"Which would be...?" He asks, following me down the hall to the laundry room

"Well...I was wondering..." I begin "You know...most of my shirts don't fit me right now, and I'm a high school kid, I don't really have the money to be going out and buying new clothes every month...so I was wondering..."

"You were wondering..." He laughs

"Can I borrow some t-shirts?" I ask "I mean, this one is Charlie's and it seems to fit me just fine...I promise I'll give them back when this whole thing is over with!"

"_Jeez_." He sighs "I have Lydia stealing my hoodies and _now_ you're asking to steal my shirts? Women..."

"If you don't want to you don't have to..." I sigh "I can just ask Charlie if he-"

"Cat." He cuts me off "I'm _teasing_ you!"

"_Funny_." I roll my eyes

"Thanks I try." He winks "Of course you can borrow some t-shirts! I'll tell you what. You take care of that shirt, I'll be back in twenty minutes with some new wardrobe items for you, okay?"

"Okay." I laugh

* * *

"Where did that shirt come from?" My mother asks when we're sitting at dinner the next night "I've never seen it before."

"Oh this?" I say looking down at Robbie's blue 'dyn-o-mite!' t-shirt "It's Robbie's."

"So you're wearing his clothes now?" She smirks "And you're not dating him, you say?"

"Mom stop. That's gross. He's practically my brother." I say "Besides, he has a girlfriend now, too."

"A girlfriend who is okay that her boyfriend knocked up a girl who he sees as practically as sister?" She asks

"Please don't say it like that..."

"What?" She clarifies "Knocked up? Or like a sister?"

"Both." I scrunch my nose up "But yeah, Lydia is cool with it. She understands, which is super great and makes things way easier on everybody."

Robbie had returned the previous day with a stack of old t-shirts he claimed he never worse anymore, there had to be _at least _fifteen. He also brought two hoodies and a pair of gym shorts, 'just in case', which I thought was super sweet and thoughtful.

"You should hit your brother up, too." She suggests "You know he'd leap oceans for you..."

"I know he would." I smile "But I should be okay, I only need these to hold me over until my maternity clothes fit me."

"You know..." She points her fork at me "I don't think I ever got rid of _my_ maternity clothes..."

"God mom those are probably so dated..." I sigh "Thanks...but no thanks."

"Woah woah, don't hate on them just yet." She laughs "If worst comes to worst, I know I at least have some solid colored tops and some denim cut-offs!"

I stop for a moment. I really only have three or four complete maternity outfits...and I can only handle wearing Robbie's clothes for so many days at a time...I mean, guys clothing is comfortable, but it's not fashionable.

"Alright." I agree "I'll look through them."

"Great!" She smiles "I'll start digging around in the basement after we finish up here. Sound good?"

"Yeah." I nod "Thanks, Mom."

"You're welcome, sweetheart."


	9. Chapter 9

_**Double update tonight in honor of sshaw101's birthday! Happy Birthday Girly!**_

* * *

_Cat's POV_

"Anybody gonna help me out here?!" Andre exclaims as he struggles to set up the volleyball net over Tori's pool

"Sorry Andre!" I laugh, already wading through the water "I'm not allowed to do any heavy lifting!"

"I wasn't talking to you, lil' red..." He chuckles "I was talking to the two idiots sitting around doing _NOTHING_!"

"I think you two are the idiots." Tori says to Beck and Robbie as she switches on the deck lamps, flooding the previously dark pool deck with light.

"If you needed help you should've just asked for us man." Beck defends, getting up and walking over to help "We're not mind readers!"

"I shouldn't have to ask for help!" Andre groans "When I'm in need, I expect my friends to help me out without needing to be asked!"

"God Andre," Robbie sighs, reaching up to attach the net to the pole "You're moodier than Cat is!"

"_Hey_!"

"Don't be offended, Cat." Tori laughs "Andre is just being a whiny baby today."

"Am not!"

"Yes you are." She smirks, leaning over and kissing his cheek "Heads up!"

She launches herself off the pool deck and lands with a splash in the water a few feet away from me.

"Watch it!" I chuckle as she swims over to me "Some of us are trying to keep our hair dry tonight!"

"See, this is when I'd dunk you if you weren't pregnant." She says "Just for making that comment."

"Well thank goodness then, right?" I smile

"Jade come on." Beck sighs "Cat and Tori are in the pool."

"God no, it's cold." Jade whines, sticking her foot in, then immediately pulling it back "I'm not getting in."

"Then then the teams won't be even!" I pout "_Please_ Jade!"

"Yeah please Jade?" Tori mimics my tone "Come on, it's not even that cold!"

"Well it's warmer out of the water than in so I plan on sta- WOAH!"

She's cut off mid-sentence when Beck picks her up bridal style and carries her to the deeper end of the pool.

"Beck Oliver I swear to _god_ if you-"

He pays her no mind and throws her into the water anyways.

"I'm sorry what was that?" He smirks

"I hate you." She says flatly as Tori and I swim over to her

"Don't worry Jade, we'll get them back when we cream their asses in volleyball." Tori assures her

"You aren't going to cream us." Beck laughs as he eases himself into the pool, followed by Andre and Robbie

"What makes you so sure?" I raise an eyebrow at him

"Because we've owned you every time we've played this summer."

"He has a point."

"Come on!" Tori exclaims "We're not scared of you! And there's always a first time for everything!"

"Fine." Andre smirks, passing the ball to our side of the net "You guys can serve."

Beck, however, was right this time. They boys cream us. I dive for the ball on several occasions, and do actually end up getting my hair wet, much to my disappointment.

I end up switching teams with Andre to make the sides 'more fair', which just makes the boys ten times as competitive as they originally were. Eventually, Jade, Tori, and I end up climbing out of the pool and end up sitting on the reclinable lawn chairs on the pool deck. Normally, we'd lay down and tan, but it's nighttime, so we sit and talk instead.

"They're such goons." I scoff, watching as Andre tries to swat the ball out of the reach of Beck and Robbie "Do they think they notice we got out?"

"We noticed!" Beck yells, not even turning towards us

"Men." Tori rolls her eyes "Always competing for something."

"Robbie should've brought Lydia!" Jade groans "Then we'd have the one up on them."

"I don't think she's in town right now..." I think for a moment "Hey Robbie! Where's Lydia?"

"Phoenix visiting her Aunt!" He calls, focused on the game "Back after the fourth!"

"Hey are we doing anything for the fourth?" Tori asks

"I was just assuming we do what we've done every other year..." Jade shrugs

"Which would be?"

"This." I nod towards the pool "Plus the boys being total pyros and trying to attach fireworks to everything."

"Come on that's so boring!" Tori whines "Let's do something fun!"

"Define fun." I say

"I don't know...maybe we could go to the boardwalk at Venice Beach! They've always got a carnival the weekend of the fourth!"

"What the hell is Cat going to do at a carnival?" Jade points out

"Oh that's right..." Tori sighs "I forgot."

"Uh hello." I laugh, gesturing to my baby bump "It's not that hard to tell!"

"Only because you're wearing a bikini." She assures me "When you're dressed it's still questionable."

"When I'm dressed..." I repeat, chuckling to myself

"TORI!" Mrs. Vega calls from the sliding glass doors that lead to the house "YOUR PIZZA IS HERE!"

"Yes I'm starving!" I cheer

"I'll be right back." She chuckles, standing up and jogging to the house

"So how are you feeling today?" Jade asks me "Gotten sick at all?"

"Once this morning." I shrug "But my doctor says I'm in my second trimester now, so the morning sickness and nausea should start to subside soon."

"I bet you'll be happy to be done with that." She laughs

"Girl you have _no_ idea." I chuckle "All the pregnancy blogs online say the second trimester is the most bearable part of it all."

"You get to find out if it's a boy or a girl in the second trimester, right?"

"Technically..." I sigh "I'm not going to though."

"Why not?" She exclaims "That's like, the most exciting part!"

"For adults who are actually _ready_ to have a child and will be the ones _raising_ it." I tell her "If I know the sex, I'll start thinking about what I would want to name it, or what it'll look like. I'll get attached to it, then I won't be able to give it up when the time comes."

"Hey ESPN!" Tori calls to the boys as she walks past them with the pizza boxes "Food's here!"

"Alright!" Andre cheers, climbing out of the pool, followed by the other two

Tori drags a small table over by the chairs we had been sitting on and places the cardboard boxes on top.

"Dig in!" She laughs

"No plates?" Andre asks

"Do we ever uses plates?"

"Good point."

"Sneak attack!" Robbie exclaims, running up behind me and wrapping his arms around my shoulders.

I shriek and try to pull away from him, so he let's go.

"Sorry." He apologizes "Did I hurt you?"

"No you're just cold!" I shiver "It scared me."

"You look like the cold one to me." He says, grabbing my towel off the deck railing and wrapping it around my shoulders "There."

"Thanks." I say, taking a bite of pizza as he sits down on the chair next to me.

"Did you know she isn't finding out the sex of the baby?" Jade asks him

"Yeah." He nods "I'm fine with it, too."

"But what if the couple adopting it wants to know?" Andre raises an eyebrow

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there." I shrug "I mean, we still haven't even told his mom yet."

"I told my mom." He sighs

"You did? What did she say?"

"She said 'nice going'..." He rolls his eyes "You know my mom."

"I'm sorry..." I frown, touching his arm "Was that really all she said?"

"Well at first she was pissed..." He smirks "But once I explained we weren't keeping it, it was whatever."

Nobody really says anything for the next few minutes, we just sit and eat our pizza, until Robbie speaks up again.

"While we're still somewhat on the topic of adoption..." He says "I found this website that-"

"Please tell me you didn't accidentally sell the baby on Craigslist!" I beg, causing our friends to laugh

"I didn't sell the baby on Craigslist." He smirks "I found an agency."

"Thank god."

"Anyway..." He laughs "They'll set us up with a counselor, show us couple profiles, walk us through the entire process. They seem really helpful."

"Great." I shrug "But is right now the best time to be discussing this?"

"No probably not...but we need to discuss it at some point."

"Sometime this week, okay?" I say "I promise."


	10. Chapter 10

_Cat's POV_

"I feel like everybody here is judging us." I whisper to Robbie as we enter the building the adoption agency's offices are located in

"I feel like you're being paranoid." Robbie chuckles "You can't even tell you're pregnant in what you're wearing. For all these people know we could be visiting the massage therapist on the second floor."

"Well they know now that you've announced it!" I exclaim "Thanks a lot."

"Okay seriously, nobody is listening to us." He assures me as we enter the elevator "Why are you acting so nervous? This is what you want, isn't it?"

"Yeah." I nod as the car starts to rise towards the eighth floor "This is what I want. Is this what you want?"

"I want whatever _you_ want." He reminds me "I told you I'd support whatever."

Robbie had shown me the website for the adoption agency he found when we got home from night swimming at Tori's a few nights ago. It was a cute little website, and they seemed trustworthy. They had an office in a suburb a few minutes outside of Los Angeles, so Robbie made a few calls and got us a meeting with one of the counselors. Sort of like an orientation thing.

"Where are we going, exactly?" I as as we step off the elevator

"Um..." Robbie hesitates, pulling out his phone to check the email confirmation from the agency as we start walking down the hallway "It says the office is in suite 805 which should be...right here!"

He opens the office door me, then follows me in.

"Hello!" A woman sitting behind the desk greets us "How can I help you?"

"Umm...we..." I hesitate

"We're supposed to have a meeting with Carolyn Brooks today at one." Robbie finishes "Are we in the right place?"

"You are." She smiles "I'll just let her know you're here!"

She gets up and disappears through a door to the left, leaving Robbie and I alone in what I can only assume is supposed to be the waiting room.

"Not exactly how I planned on spending my Friday afternoon." Robbie chuckles

"You're the one who set this up!" I snap "You can't complain!"

"I'm not complaining! I'm trying to make humor of the situation!" He sighs "Why are you so jumpy?"

"I don't know..." I admit "I guess...I guess this just isn't how I planned on spending my Friday afternoon either..."

He smiles and sits down in one of the chairs, patting the seat next to him, hinting for me to sit as well.

"You working tonight?" He asks

I shake my head no.

"I don't work Fridays." I explain "And the store is closed all weekend anyway for the fourth."

"You got lucky then, huh?" He laughs

"I guess." I shrug

"Are you going to the beach tomorrow?"

"Yeah I think I will." I say "I mean, my mom went out of town with my aunts for a girl's weekend, and god knows what Charlie is doing. So I might as well."

"Robbie?" A woman calls from the door the receptionist had previously disappeared behind "And I'm assuming you must be Cat."

"Ms. Brooks?" He addresses her, standing up and shaking her hand

"Carolyn is fine." She smiles, shaking my hand as well "Come on back here with me and we'll start talking."

She leads us back behind the door and down a hallway. We enter what I can only assume is her office. She sits down in a rolling chair behind the desk, and Robbie and I take a seat on the couch that sits against the wall.

"So." She begins "My name is Carolyn, as you know. I'm a counselor for the agency, and I will also be your case manager throughout this entire process. I've delt with hundreds of cases just like yours, and I want you to know, it's going to turn out just fine one way or another."

I say nothing, just nod to show I understand, Robbie does the same.

"It's a little awkward right now, I understand." She assures us, pulling a folder out of her desk that's labeled 'Valentine/Shapiro', "There's no use beating around it, let's just get started, shall we?"

"Okay." I agree

"Let's start with your ages." She says "How old are you both, and what are your birthdays?"

"February 14th." I tell her, watching her fill in the blanks on my form "I'm seventeen."

"I'm also seventeen." Robbie adds "My birthday is November 13th..."

"Mom is seventeen, born February 14th. Dad is also seventeen, born November 13th..." She repeats as she writes the information down "I'm assuming Cat is the pregnant one?"

"Yes." I laugh, even though it felt extremely odd to be referred to as 'Mom'.

"How far along are you?"

I stop for a few seconds to count in my head before answering

"Fifteen weeks." I answer

"Second trimester?" She chuckles "Has your morning sickness started to subside a little bit?"

"Yes!" I exclaim "Thank god, it was _awful_."

"Every pregnancy is different..." Carolyn explains "But _most _moms tend to complain about the morning sickness, then are extremely relieved when it starts to get better."

"I didn't realize it was so bad..." Robbie gasps

"Don't worry about it." I assure him "It's better now."

"It's partially _my_ fault though."

"It's okay, Robbie. Really."

* * *

"At least she's nice." Jade shrugs

She sits in the passenger seat of Beck's truck as we speed down I-10 towards Santa Monica, he drives, I sit in the back behind Jade.

"It's just scary that it's so real now." I tell her

Our meeting the previous day had pretty much consisted of more questions about basically everything, and Carolyn explaining basically the entire adoption process.

Robbie and I now have access to the agency's database of couples looking to adopt. We can look through their profiles and when we find a few we like, we're supposed to let Carolyn know, and she can get us more information, and if we still like them at that point, set up an interview.

"Well you didn't think the baby would stay in there forever, did you?" Jade laughs "It's going to happen eventually."

"Santa Monica Pier, two miles!" Beck announces as he changes lanes to exit the highway.

"Are the others already there?" I ask

"I think so." Jade checks her phone "Yeah, they've got blankets set up on the beach. Apparently it's already packed."

"Well it's Santa Monica Pier on the Fourth of July." Beck chuckles "There's going to be lots of people."

"Let's see how much money I can blow today..." I say sarcastically

We drive for another ten minutes or so before parking a few blocks away from the pier. We walk for what feels like forever before finally reaching the sand, and I'm already exhausted, it's barely even lunchtime.

"Okay...Andre says they're by the lifeguard stand..." Beck says, scanning the crowds of people "Oh! Over there!"

Andre waves to us, he's next to Tori and Robbie, who are sitting on a blanket they have spread out on the sand.

"Sup guys?" He greets us as we approach

"I'm starving!" I exclaim

"Already got you covered." Tori laughs, handing a sandwich to me

I smile and thank her as I sit down on the blanket between her and Robbie.

"Doin okay today?" He asks

"Actually yes." I smile "No nausea yet."

"That's awesome!"

We all sit and eat our sandwiches talking about our plans for the day. After we finish eating, the boys take off their tank tops and the girls strip down to our bathing suits, I leave my shirt on so as not to draw attention to the whole 'pregnant teenager' thing, and we head off towards the water.

"Oh my god!" I squeal as we run in "It's freezing!"

"It's the ocean." Beck laughs "It's not like there's a pool heater in here."

"Shut up, Beck!" I kick water at him

"Oh it's on!" He smirks

Before I know it the six of us have fallen into a giant water fight, oblivious to the other hundreds of people in the water around us.

"Damn teenagers..." I hear a man mutter to himself as he picks up his son and carries him away from the area where our splashes can reach.

For the first time in a few months, I actually _feel_ like a teenager. I'm acting crazy and immature like teenagers should. Yes I'm being safe and mindful of the other life living inside of me, but it's not my main focus. It's nice, it's almost...normal.

* * *

"Guys slow down and wait for gimpy." Jade laughs as we walk along the boardwalk later than night

"Shut up!" Beck whines "It could happen to anybody!"

"Stop whining." She smirks, kissing him on the lips "You're fine."

Andre, Tori and Beck had tried their hand at surfing earlier this afternoon and let's just say it hadn't ended up well for Beck. He sliced his leg open on something, no one is really sure what, and now has to limp around, one arm around Jade's shoulders for support. Luckily, it was his left leg, so he can still drive home later.

"Have you talked to Lydia at all today?" I ask Robbie as we walk

"We texted briefly while the goons were surfing." He chuckles "But otherwise not much. She's been out with her cousins today."

"Aw sorry." I frown "You must miss her."

"I miss her like crazy." He admits "But she doesn't see that part of her family often, so it's alright. Plus, I get to spend time with you guys, so it's not so bad."

I giggle to myself and lean my head against his shoulder, subconsciously resting my hand on my tiny baby bump as we continue making our way down the boardwalk.

We had left the beach around 6:00 after the surfing incident and found respective bathrooms to change into regular clothes. I have a rather interesting tan from the t-shirt I had been wearing, but I had been expecting that. Luckily, Charlie's Ramones baseball shirt covers it for the most part, and I'm able to pair it nicely with a pair of denim cutoffs that you can't even tell were a pair of my moms old maternity jeans in a past life.

After we changed, we found dinner at this small burger place on the pier, and we've been walking up and down the boardwalk since. Tori and I had gotten glittery american flags painted on our cheeks at the face painting booth, Beck had won Jade a stuffed bear, we had eaten every junky snack we could find. Jade, Beck and Andre had dared to ride the tilt-a-whirl, while Robbie, Tori and I stayed off and looked through some of the shops.

"The fireworks are starting in about twenty minutes." Andre announces "We should probably head back to the beach."

We all nod our heads in agreement and turn around to start walking back towards the beach. Andre stops off and grabs the blankets out of the locker we had rented for the day and we make our way to the sand. He and Robbie spread the blankets out, then everyone lays down. Tori cuddles up to Andre as she wraps his hoodie around her shoulders, Jade sits on Beck's lap in his flannel shirt she had been wearing all night, and Robbie and I sit awkwardly next to each other.

"Are you warm enough?" He asks

"Yeah." I nod "This shirt is warmer than it looks."

"Good." He laughs "Because I'm not really sure what I would've given you to wear."

Music starts blasting out of a sound system tucked somewhere I can't see, and people start cheering as the first streak of light flies up through the air, resulting in a bright red explosion over our heads.

"It's starting!" I squeal, causing my friends to all laugh "It's so pretty!"

The fireworks last about twenty minutes, and I'll admit I was laying down after about two or three because my back was starting to hurt, set to a montage of 'Born in the USA', 'Party In The USA', and 'Firework'.

"You know..." Robbie whispers to me "It's weird..."

"What's weird?"

"Our baby's parents could be sitting on this beach right now...and we'd have no idea."

It's even weirder to think he could actually be right.


	11. Chapter 11

_Cat's POV_

"Cat!" A voice says "Cat come on wake up!"

I open my eyes to find myself face to face with my older brother. Startled and a little but confused, I let out a noise that was intended to be a small shriek, but ends up coming out more like a high pitched scream. He falls backwards onto my bedroom floor, obviously a little bit startled too.

"What the hell Charlie?" I exclaim, sitting up and throwing the sheets off my legs "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"So a guy gets the day off of work and decides to come surprise his little sister and how does she repay him?" He chuckles getting to his feet "By screaming at him?"

"You scared the shit out of me!" I fire back "I'll scream at you all I want!"

"Wow." He raises an eyebrow "_Somebody's_ defensive today."

"_I'm pregnan_t!" I scoff "I'm defensive _everyday_!"

"Okay now you're just yelling to yell." He smirks

I take a deep breath and stop to collect myself. He's right, I'm yelling for no reason.

"What are you doing here, Charlie?" I ask him

"Well, a pipe burst at the office." He explains "The whole building is shut down. Nobody is allowed to go into work. So I thought to myself 'What should I do with this newly acquired free time? Oh I know! I haven't seen Cat in a while!' And yeah...now I'm here...in your bedroom."

"You picked me over Tuck?" I smirk "How sweet."

"I _live_ with Tuck." He laughs "I see him all the time. I feel like I haven't seen you in forever! I mean, you look totally different now!"

"Did you just call me _fat_?" I snap, crossing my arms across my chest to cover my bump "Seriously?"

"No...Cat stop it that's not what I meant." He sighs "I mean, last time I saw you, I couldn't tell, now I can tell."

"Great." I roll my eyes, falling back onto my back

"Hey, that's a good thing." He tries to convince me, sitting down on my bed "It means everything is working the way it should."

"Yeah yeah..."

"Come on." He nudges me "Get up and get dressed. We'll go get lunch!"

"Lunch?"

"Yeah?" He laughs "Its almost 11:30."

I turn my head to look at the clock, he's right.

"Huh." I chuckle "I guess it is."

"Teenagers." Charlie rolls his eyes

* * *

"So..." Charlie takes a bite of his sandwich "Mom told me you and Robbie have been working with an adoption agency?"

"How often do you talk to Mom?" I ask "How do you get all this information about me?"

"I talk to Mom as often as I can." He smirks "So, tell me about this adoption agency."

"We're working with a case worker right now on finding a family to take the baby." I tell him as I chase a piece of lettuce around my bowl with my fork "We've found a few possibilities, but nothing really exciting yet."

"So you're really going to give the little guy up, huh?" He sighs "Are you sure you want to do that?"

"Don't make me feel guilty about this." I beg "Please. You and I both know I'm completely _incapable_ of caring for a child right now, or anytime in the near future. Especially when the baby's father and I aren't together."

"So..." He says "It's a _completely_ done deal then? You're not allowed to change your mind?"

"We have until 72 hours after the baby is born to change our minds and decide we want to keep it, no questions asked, no penalty to us." I explain "But that's not going to happen, we're not going to change our minds."

"You're determined, Cat." Charlie laughs "I'll give you that."

"Better to be determined than unmotivated." I shrug

"That's very true." He agrees "Speaking of motivation, how's the college thing coming?"

"Charlie..." I groan

"You know I had to ask."

"It's going okay I guess..." I tell him "Mom and I went with Tori and Mrs. Vega to visit the University of San Diego earlier this week."

"And how did that go?"

"As good as it could've, I guess." I shrug "I mean, I'm still not really sure what I want to do, so picking a school is hard."

"You better get on that soon." He warns "Or Dad will pick for you."

"Well I've got a few months before he'll even start talking to me again." I glance down "So that will by me some time."

"Why don't you just call him back and talk to him?" Charlie asks "I hate being the middle man."

"I never asked you to be the middle man." I remind him

"No, Dad did." He corrects me "And he's finally starting to not be mad at me because of it."

"If he can't accept you for who you are then you didn't need him." I say sternly

"That's just the thing Cat, he's _coming around._" He smiles "Every time I talk to him he seems a little more okay with it, we're still a long ways off, but he doesn't want to _disown_ me anymore."

"Good for you."

"Don't be bitter."

"I'm not bitter." I shrug "I'm just pissed that he's too _embarrassed_ to be seen with me."

"No I understand." He sighs "I understand."

* * *

After lunch, Charlie takes me to see a movie, and I was even able to talk him into ice cream. I've learned that if I say the baby is hungry for something, I'm way more likely to get it than if I say I want it myself.

"You should stay for dinner." I tell Charlie when we pull into the driveway "I think it would make Mom really happy."

"Looks like you already have company..." He points

There's an unfamiliar car sitting in the driveway in front of us, I've never seen it before, and by the look on his face, I'm guessing Charlie hasn't either.

He turns off the engine and we both exit the car, across the driveway and up the front walk to the door, which unlocked.

"Hi Mom!" I call "Charlie's here!"

"It's my two favorite people!" She smiles, entering the front hallway "Did you two have a fun sibling bonding day?"

"We always do." I laugh "Who's here?"

"No one?" She gives me a confused look "It's just me."

"Then who's car is that?" Charlie asks, gesturing behind him, out to the driveway

"What car?" Mom walks past us, slipping on a pair of flip flops and going outside

Charlie and I both follow.

"I have no idea who this belongs to..." She admits, circling the red Prius "Oh but I have an idea how it got here..."

She leans across the hood and grabs an envelope that had previously been tucked under one of the windshield wipers.

"Caterina." She reads the name printed on the envelope "Here."

I step forward and take the envelope from her. When I open it up, I immediately recognize the stationary and frantic handwriting.

_Caterina, _

_Based on our lack of communication this summer, I can only assume that you are still mad at me. I understand that my request was not ideal, but please know I have my reasons. _

_Nonetheless, the start of your senior year is fast approaching, and with senior year will come a new set of responsibilities, especially in your...condition. Let's be honest, your mother c at drive you around forever. You don't have so accept this, but I'd really appreciate it if you did. It's already paid in full, all you need to provide is the gas. I know this doesn't even begin yo fix everything, but I hope it can be a start. I love you, Caterina. Always remember that. _

_Dad _

"Let me see that." Charlie says, taking the paper from me "Looks like somebody's trying to buy your love back."

"You don't have to accept it, sweetheart." My mother tells me "We can work it out."

"No." I scoff "I'm keeping the car. But he'll have to try harder than that if he thinks he can buy me back with material things."

"That's my sister." Charlie laughs, throwing an arm around my shoulders "Sticking it to the man."


	12. Chapter 12

_Cat's POV_

"You're not even going to call him and say thank you?" Annie laughs "Damn girl what did he do to you?"

"Nothing I'd care to relive by retelling the story." I tell her, tossing a shirt to her across the table between us "Sorry."

"Must be _some_ story." She takes the shirt and walks over to place it on the correct table where it belongs.

When I pulled up to work in my new car a few days after I had gotten it, of course a few questions had been raised.

I pick up a stack of shirts that need to be set up on a different display and try to squeeze between two tables.

"Damn it..." I sigh when I realize I can no longer fit through like I used to be able to.

"Oh _no_." Annie says sarcastically "Now you have to take an extra twenty seconds and walk all the way around!"

"Shut up." I shoot her a death glare "You have no idea how inconvenient it is to be pregnant! I'm always tired, or hungry, or hungry _and_ tired! My back hurts, I can't fit places I used to..."

"Calm down." Annie chuckles taking the shirts from me "Only what? Five more months?"

"Only." I roll my eyes as the door at the front of the store opens "Hi! Welcome to- oh hey Lydia."

"Hey." She smiles entering the store "How's the baby?"

"Baby's good." I sigh, placing a hand on my bump "Getting in the way, but good."

"I can only imagine." She gives me a sympathetic look "Hey, do you think you can help me out with something?"

"Sure!" I tell her "What's up?"

"Robbie's and my two month is coming up." She grins "He says we're doing something really special but he won't tell me what..."

"He hasn't said anything to me." I laugh "If that's what you're looking for."

"No no no!" She shakes her head "I was sort of hoping you could help me find an outfit to wear..."

"Of course!" I exclaim "I love dressing other people!"

"I know," Lydia chuckles "That's why I came here!"

"Annie, will you finish the shirts for me?" I ask "So I can help?"

"Are you going to give me a choice?" Annie raises an eyebrow at me

"No."

"Then yeah sure." She rolls her eyes, smirking a little "I'll finish."

"So." I say, turning my attention back to Lydia, motioning for her to follow me "Has he let on even the slightest bit as to what you might be doing?"

"No." She shakes her head "So I have no idea how to dress."

"Well let's see..." I stop to think "You did dinner and a movie for the first month right?"

She nods.

"Alright...well knowing him it will probably be something a little fancier than that." I say "Seeing as he loves to spoil you."

"I feel so bad that he spends so much money on me!" She admits

"He works for that tutoring center downtown literally five days a week." I remind her "he's making good money, besides, you're the first girl I've seen him go head over heels for. I don't think he minds."

She says nothing, but smiles widely, and I can see her cheeks turning bright pink.

"So." I turn the conversation back it it's original topic "Outfit for a date with undetermined activities...I'm thinking a skirt..."

I pull a few skirts off the rack, holding them up for her to see.

"You're pretty tan..." I observe "So if I were you I'd go with a lighter color to compliment that...you aren't going to be on your period are you?"

She shakes her head no.

"I'd go with this one then." I say holding up an ivory colored lace skater skirt "What do you think?"

"I love it." She smiles "But what do I wear with it?"

"Show her the new tops we just got in!" Annie yells from across the store

"I was getting there!" I roll me eyes, laughing "Follow me, we just got these really cute new bustiers in last week, literally just put them out last night."

"I don't know..." Lydia hesitates "I'm not really sure if I can pull one off."

"With you're figure?" I scoff "Of course you can! Are you joking? If I tried to wear one right now it would be a different story, but you can totally make it work!"

"You think so?"

"I know so." I wink "Here, try this white one with it. What do you think?"

The top is strapless and white with yellow, green and pink flowers.

"You really think I can pull this off?" She asks again

"Definitely. Add a pearl necklace and a pair of white flats and it's the perfect mystery date outfit!" I smile "Try it on if you don't believe me!"

"No I trust you." She nods "Thanks Cat."

"You're welcome." We hug each other "I'll even give you my employee discount!"

"Really?" She gasps "You _don't_ have to do that."

"I give all my friends my employee discount." I assure her "Not that big of a deal."

* * *

"Lydia came by the store last night." I tell Robbie the next morning as I sit down on my couch "She says you have something planned for your two month...?"

"Oh no." He laughs, shaking his head sitting down next to me "Nice try, I'm not telling you anything."

"Worth a try." I shrug "I helped her pick out a really cute outfit though."

"So I heard." He says "I also heard you let her use your discount."

"Yeah." I shrug "I let all my friends use my discount."

"Well I'm glad you two are friends." He smiles "I honestly thought you two would just be fighting all the time."

"Don't flatter yourself, Shapiro." I smirk "Women fighting for your attention? Never in a million years. And I mean...it's not like we're best friends, like you and me, or me and Jade, but I like her enough."

"Enough to let her use your discount."

"Exactly."

"Well like I said, I'm glad." He repeats, pulling my laptop onto his lap "Okay! Time for more couple profiles!"

"Yay..." I say sarcastically "My favorite."

"Aw come on." He nudges me "It's not so bad."

"It's boring!" I exclaim

"I think it's interesting." He laughs "It's basically spying!"

"Whatever." I roll my eyes "I still think we should meet with The Curran's."

"And I want to meet with The Mitchell's." He reminds me "But I think we should have a third family just in case."

"Why is this so hard?" I groan

"Because deep deep down you actually love that baby and you want what's best for it." Robbie chuckles "Even though you won't admit it."


	13. Chapter 13

_Cat's POV_

"MOM!" I yell as I rush frantically around the kitchen "HAVE YOU SEEN MY KEYS?"

"You've had the car for less than a month, and you've already lost your keys?" She laughs entering the kitchen

"I swear to god I just had them!" I exclaim "I have baby brain! Don't make fun of me!"

"Where was the last place you remember having them?" She asks "Where did yo put them when you came home from work?"

"I put them in the dish on the table by the door!" I tell her as I open drawers and dig through them "They're _not_ there!"'

"Cat." She sighs

I turn to look at her and see that she's holding my keys in her hand.

"My keys!" I cheer "Where did you find them?"

"I found them in your shorts when I was doing laundry last night." She laughs "Didn't check your pockets did you?"

"I'm sorry." I apologize taking the keys from her "I didn't think to check there."

"That's alright. It happens." She assures me "So, where are you off to? Must be important if you're up before eleven."

"It's summer. It's acceptable to sleep as late as you want." I roll my eyes "And I'm going over to Tori's to swim."

"To swim or to tan?" She smirks

"Swim." I laugh "Then we might go to the mall later."

"Alright, well just be careful okay?" She tells me "The mall will probably be crawling with tourists."

"I can handle tourists." I assure her as I slip on a pair of flip flops and grab my sunglasses "And if all else fails, I have Jade."

* * *

"So how's the couple hunt coming?" Tori asks as we lay on our respective lawn chairs by her pool "Find anybody you like?"

Okay, so I lied to my mom. But I'm still trying to even out my t-shirt tan from the Fourth of July.

"We're between three right now." I say "The Curran's, The Mitchell's and The Warner's."

"Are you going to interview with them?" Jade asks "I mean, it's kinda a long process isn't it? When you think about it you really don't have that much time left."

"We've let our case worker know we want to interview with them, she's working on setting up some meetings. But that's a process too, so we probably won't actually meet any of them until after school starts." I explain "And we technically don't have to make our final decision until the baby is actually born, although the sooner you choose, the easier it is."

"God _school_ is going to start soon." Tori groans

"T minus three weeks." Jade laughs "Then we're _seniors_."

"Oh don't remind me." I whine "I'm exhausted enough as it is without school."

"Then just quit your job." Jade says like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"I need money so I can support myself in college." I tell them "You know? I don't want to depend on my parents forever."

"She has a point." Tori sighs "Hey, maybe we should get jobs too."

"You can get a job." Jade tells her "I'm fine."

"No but actually though." Tori laughs "I mean come on, Cat has a job. Andre, Beck and Robbie have jobs."

"It might actually be nice to have some extra cash on hand..." Jade admits "Maybe I should start looking."

"Maybe you guys can look when we go out later." I suggest "I mean, all the college kids are leaving to go back to school, there has to be a lot of openings."

"She has a point."

"Yay I'm persuasive!" I giggle reaching over to grab my water "Oh my god I miss soda so much!"

"Five more months." Jade reminds me "Well actually, probably less than that now I guess right?"

"I'm due four days after Christmas." I inform her "That's an entire semester of school between then and now!"

"Sorry Cat." Tori frowns

"Don't apologize." I tell her "Its not your fault."

"It's not your fault either."

"I would _love_ to get my hands on the kid that spiked that punch." I sigh

* * *

"Tori you've bought more than Cat and I combined." Jade groans as we walk through the mall "Can we leave now?"

"Yeah Tori my feet are starting to hurt." I admit

"Come on guys!" Tori laughs "We still have to hit the sale at Victoria's Secret!"

"We can go home and hit it _online_!"

"Last store, I promise."

Basically every store in our mall was having an end of the tourist season sale, trying to steal the last of everybody's money before they returned home and the school year started. Us locals however, were able to take advantage of the entire mall being at least 40% off. We decided to do all of our back to school shopping while everything was cheap.

I hadn't really bought much, only an outfit or two. I don't want to waste money I could be using on other things on outfits I'll only wear for a few months and get rid of again. Instead, I'll save what I didn't use and combine it with my Christmas money I'll hopefully get to take one big shopping trip in January. Sort of a 'congratulations you survived childbirth' present to myself.

"I'm _starving_." I admit to Jade as we follow Tori into the store

"We just ate like two hours ago." She laughs

"Tell that to the kid!" I groan "I swear to god, the thing controls my brain. All I can hear inside my head right now is 'ice cream, ice cream'!"

"Go get some ice cream then." She tells me "I doubt Tori is leaving this store anytime soon, and if she wants to, I'll text you and tell you where we're going."

"Alright." I sigh "I'll be back soon."

I turn and exit the store, heading towards the ice cream place in the food court. Without one of my friends to talk to or keep me preoccupied, I take more notice to the awkward stares from judgmental strangers. Kids my age scrunch their noses up, probably thankful they're not in my situation. Adults look either disappointed and disgusted or like they pity me. I want to just flat out tell them to mind their own business, but that's out of character for me, so I don't.

A man in a navy blue polo and kakis begins to approach me, smiling.

"Clearance sale at Baby Barn!" He tells me, pushing a flier into my hands

"Oh no, I'm not-" I begin, but he pays no attention and keeps walking past

I look down at the green piece of paper he had given me. It's a 20% off coupon with a picture of a smiling baby in the corner. I know exactly why he had approached me, but I wish he hadn't.

As I pass the store, I look in and see all of the women just like me shopping for the babies they're soon to have.

It makes my heart hurt a little bit. I mean, the shopping and the decorating, that's supposed to be almost as exciting as having the baby, right? I don't get to shop for my baby, or decorate the room...and I'm not even excited to be having it. In the end, it's going to be someone else's baby, not mine.

"The couple you choose will be able to provide better." I whisper to myself "And love more."

I can't have a baby now. Someday, when I'm married and in love and actually ready, I'll be able to. But right now, I can't. I have to be okay with that.

What my baby needs is parents who can love and provide for it unconditionally.

And that's _not_ me and Robbie.


	14. Chapter 14

_Cat's POV_

"Good morning." My mother smiles, entering the kitchen "And happy first day of school!"

"Thanks." I roll my eyes, taking another bite of my frosted flakes.

"I can't believe my little girl is already a senior in high school." She sighs, hugging my shoulders from behind "It seems like just yesterday I was dropping you off for your first day of preschool!"

"Oh no not this again." I groan "I'm not leaving yet, Mom. I still have a whole year of high school."

"It will fly by." She smirks "Just watch, before you know it you'll be packing up that little red car of yours and driving away."

"I think I've got some other things to worry about before I get too concerned about packing up my little red car." I laugh, standing up to take my cereal bowl to the dishwasher "You know, like finding a family for the baby and then actually _having_ the baby."

"Oh that reminds me!" She perks up "Don't forget, you have your twenty week appointment after work tonight."

"I already have a reminder set on my phone incase I forget." I inform her "I've got it all covered."

"Are you going to take Robbie with you?" She asks "Hey don't give me that look, it was a legitimate question!"

"Why would I take him?"

"Because it's his baby too?" She tells me "Even if you're not going to keep it, don't you think he should get to know if everything is going okay?"

"I..." I hesitate "I don't know. I just don't want him to get too attached to it, you know? We have interviews in the process of being set up, we're not keeping it. I don't want him to be heartbroken."

"Honey, I've told you a thousand times..." She sighs "It's okay if you want to keep the baby. We'll be able to figure something ou-"

"Mom _stop_." I cut her off "I'm not mature enough or responsible enough to take care of a child for a _weekend_, let alone eighteen years. Robbie isn't either. Everybody involved will be better off if we give it to someone who can."

"At least ask if he wants to go to the appointment with you." She sighs "Okay?"

"Fine."

"Alright, good." She grins "Okay, now when you get to school today you need to take these forms to the nurses office, and you need to hang this card on the mirror of your car, okay? It's your parking pass."

She hands me a stack of forms paper clipped together and a bright blue parking pas that says 'HA SENIOR LOT' across it in orange letters.

"What are the forms for?" I ask, examining a few pages

"They pull you out of your regular PE class for the semester." She explains "I mean the first semester activities they had planned for senior girls absolutely were not safe for a pregnant woman at all. They'll also probably give you an 'anytime pass' for the nurses office so you can leave class if you ever start feeling sick."

"I haven't had bad morning sickness in almost two months..." I sigh, sticking the forms into my backpack

"The closer you get to the end, the more unpredictable the whole thing becomes." She warns me "Just keep that in mind."

"Okay?"

"You better get going, don't want to be late on the first day." She says "I love you, I'll see you when you get home tonight."

"I love you too." I smile as she kisses my forehead "See ya later."

* * *

"At least you have an extra study hall now." Jade shrugs as she examines my schedule "And it looks like everybody has at least one of us in all their classes."

"Senior year is gonna be great!" Andre cheers

"The second half will be great." I remind him "I'm not so sure about the first half..."

"Come on, lil red." He chuckles "It's not so bad."

"Have you ever tried sleeping with a watermelon in your shirt?" I ask him "Because it's _not_ very comfortable! I can't sleep, so I'm always exhausted. I'm hungry all the time. And now they won't even let me do gym!"

"You're complaining about not being able to do gym because...?" Tori laughs "Wanna trade?"

"Gladly." I roll my eyes

"Good morning everyone!" Robbie greets us as he approaches our group, hand in hand with Lydia "Who's ready for school?"

"Everyone except Cat." Beck tells him

"What's the matter?" He asks "Is everything okay with the baby?"

"The baby is fine, as far as I know." I sigh "It just doesn't like when my sleep schedule gets switched up is all. But speaking of that, I have a doctors appointment after school today. My halfway checkup...or something like that, I don't know. Do you want to come?"

"I'd love to..." He hesitates "But Lydia and I already and plans to-"

"Robbie." She cuts him off "We can go out to dinner any night of the week, go make sure your baby is healthy."

"Alright." He smiles "Sure, I'd love to come with you, what time?"

"WHIPPED!" Andre and Beck whoop

"7:00." I tell him, kicking Beck's shin as I do so "You two leave him alone. You're both_ just _as bad."

"Are not."

"Andre I think I forgot my wallet in the car, it has my school ID in it, would you mind running to grab it for me?" Tori asks, handing him her keys

"Yeah sure." He smiles, taking the keys and kissing her cheek, then pauses "Okay so I'm whipped, who cares?"

We all laugh as the bell rings to warn us we have five minutes until first period starts.

"So I'll see everyone at lunch?" I smile

"You bet!"

We all turn away to walk to our respective classes, for Tori and I, it's Physics. Yay. Luckily, our teacher is the same one who taught our sophomore year biology class, so I know he sits us alphabetically by last name. At least we'll get to sit next to each other.

"Tori and Cat!" Our teacher, Mr. Waters, exclaims as we approach the classroom "Hello! Did you have a good summer?"

"It was great!" Tori smiles "What about yours?"

"Got to spend a lot of time with my grandkids." He tells us "But I won't bore you with the details, go on inside, seating chart is on the board."

We enter the classroom and look at the seating chart being projected onto the screen. Unfortunately, Tori sits behind me, not next to me.

"Who the hell is Holden Vance?" Tori asks me "I've never heard that name before, and this school isn't that big."

"That would be me." A voice says from behind us "I'm new here this year."

I turn around so see a very _very_ attractive boy sitting at the second lab table from the front in the second row.

"Oh hot damn." I whisper to Tori "_That's_ my lab partner."

"Lucky!" She whispers back

"Oh please, _you_ have a boyfriend!"

I take the seat next to Holden, Tori sits down in the seat behind me.

"Hey." I smile "Sorry about that, we had just figured we'd be sitting next to each other because our last names are so close. I'm Cat, that's Tori."

"Holden." He extends his hand to shake mine "As you probably already guessed."

"Yeah." I chuckle "So you're new here?"

"Just moved here from Woodside." He nods "It's just minutes away from Stanford."

"Oh hey! My big brother went to Stanford!" I tell him "But oh god, that must suck having to relocate senior year!"

"Whatever." He shrugs "It was rough at first, but I plan on going to college up there anyway, so it's not like I'll be away for long. What about you? Looks like you had a pretty rough summer too..."

"What do you mean?" I place a hand on my bump "Oh...yeah. It wasn't so bad, I mean, it wasn't ideal, but I made it work."

"Did the dad stick around?" He asks

"He did, but we're not together." I explain "We're giving the baby up for adoption anyway."

The bell rings just as I finish my sentence.

"Alright class!" Mr. Waters exclaims "Welcome to Physics!"

"I _love_ physics." Holden tells me

"Really?" I scrunch my nose up "I get decent grades, but I can't say I'm _in love_."

"I've always had a knack for it..." He explains "Add the fact that I've got the _cutest _girl in class as my lab partner? Ten times better."

* * *

"This place is..." Robbie hesitates "Interesting..."

"It's an OB GYN." I laugh "What were you expecting?"

"Not this." He points "Seriously, there's vaginas everywhere I look!"

"Aren't boys supposed to _like_ vaginas?" I ask

"_Real_ ones." He corrects me "Not diagrams."

There's a knock at the door and my doctor, Doctor Corey, enters.

"Hi Cat." She smiles, then turns to Robbie "Hello, I don't believe we've met..."

"Doctor Corey, this is Robbie." I introduce him as they shake hands "He's...he's the dad."

"It's nice to meet you, Robbie." She tells him "So Cat, how are you feeling?"

"I'm really tired, and I'm really hungry all the time." I admit

"That's normal." She chuckles "Any nausea?"

I shake my head no.

"What about back pain?"

"_All_ the time!" I exclaim "Please tell me _that's_ normal?"

"It's very normal." She assures me "You're carrying a lot of extra weight down there your body isn't used to yet. It can be expected even more because you're so tiny."

"Does it get better?" I ask

"It's 50/50." She shrugs "For some women it does, for some women it doesn't."

"Wonderful."

"Alright, why don't you lay down so we can do your anomaly scan?" She chuckles

"What's an anomaly scan?" Robbie asks

"It's an ultrasound we do halfway through the pregnancy to make sure that the baby is developing the way they should be." Doctor Corey explains "And we can also determine the sex, but I believe Cat is opting out of that, correct?"

I nod and roll my shirt up so it's resting right above my bump and lay down.

Doctor Corey turns on the ultrasound machine and turns the monitor away from my field of view, then starts squeezing gel onto the wand.

"Why did she turn the screen away?" Robbie asks, sitting down next to me "Aren't you supposed to be able to see it?"

"Under most circumstances? Yes." I sigh "But I'm afraid if I see the baby, I'll get attached to it and want to keep it."

"You seem to be trying very hard not to get attached..."

"Okay Cat, this is cold remember?" The doctor warns

I nod as she places the gel covered want on my stomach and starts moving it around.

"Omg it is cold!" I squeal, causing both Robbie and my doctor to laugh

"Can you feel any movement yet?" She asks me

"No." I shake my head "Nothing yet."

"Don't worry." She laughs "It will come soon enough."

Suddenly, the sound of what I can only compare to a soft purring fills the room.

"What is that?" Robbie looks at me

"That's the heartbeat." I tell him "Cool, huh?"

"Very." He says, craning his neck in an attempt to see the monitor

"You can go look if you want." I tell him "That's allowed. I just don't want to see it myself."

"Really?"

I nod.

He gets up from the chair and walks around to the other side of the table where the doctor is sitting.

"Give me a second, I'll find the head for you." She tells him and continues to move the wand around.

I can tell when she does too, because Robbie's face lights up like a Christmas tree.

"Oh my god." He gasps "Cat, it's sucking it's thumb!"

"Really?" I chuckle

"Really." He smiles "Okay, that's all I needed."

He returns to his original seat.

"Well, looks like everything is healthy." Doctor Corey grins "I'll give you a sonogram picture to show the adoptive parents, okay?"

We both nod.

"Alright, I'll be right back." She tells us

"You're not even the least bit curious?" Robbie asks me once she's left "What it looks like?"

"No." I shake my head "I mean, I'll see the sonogram picture, I just don't want to see it moving."

"Why?"

"I told you." I sigh "I don't want to make it any harder to give it up."


	15. Chapter 15

_Cat's POV_

As the school year starts to really get under way, I start to find it harder to balance everything. I have school, and with school comes homework and college applications. I have work, which doesn't leave me much time to complete my homework or college applications. I'm also six months pregnant, which leaves me an emotional mess with wonky hormones.

However, every morning I look forward to Mr. Waters' physics class because I get to spend a whole hour sitting next to Holden Vance.

He's funny, and really sweet to me, which when you're pregnant seems to mean so much more. We text quite frequently, and in turn I've learned a lot about him.

He wanted to play football at Hollywood Arts, but didn't come to town in time to make tryouts, so he plans on playing basketball when the time comes instead. He's here because he's an actor, like Beck. He plans on going to Stanford, just like both of his older siblings did. His favorite food is sushi and he loves Duran Duran. He's so different than every other boy I've ever liked, but I find myself falling for him anyway. So that Friday morning at the end of September when he came in and asked me if I had any plans that night, I was more than quick to answer

"No."

"Do you want to come over?" He asks "We could watch a movie...or something."

"Sure." I smile "I'd love to watch a movie, or something."

"Great! It's a date." He winks "I'll pick you up around seven?"

"Sounds perfect." I tell him "I'll text you my address."

The bell rings to end class, and I start shoving my notebook and folder into my backpack, waving goodbye to Holden as I do so.

"Did he just ask you out?" Tori asks appearing next me

"I'm going to his house to watch a movie tonight!" I exclaim, standing up and slinging my backpack over my shoulder

"Girl!" She squeals "That's great!"

"I know!" I grin as we exit the science room and begin our walk to Sikowitz's class "God, he's so great. And he likes me despite the fact I'm pregnant with a baby that isn't his!"

"I'm literally so happy for you."

"Hey ladies." Beck says, appearing next to me

"Why are we so smiley?" Andre asks, walking up next to Tori and lacing their fingers together

"I'm going to Holden's house to watch a movie tonight!" I smile "I think it might be a date!"

"Hey-ey." Andre chuckles "That's awesome!"

We turn down the hallway by the soda machines and enter the classroom of our favorite teacher, where Jade is already waiting with Robbie and Lydia.

"Jade!" I exclaim "Guess what?"

"What?" She chuckles, standing up to greet Beck with a kiss

"Holden asked me to come over tonight!"

"Come over for what?" She raises an eyebrow

"We're gonna watch a movie." I smile

"Wait." Robbie stops me as Lydia moves onto his lap "Holden who?"

"Holden Vance." I tell him "Why?"

"Wait, Cat's Holden is Holden _Vance_?" Beck clarifies "Aw man."

"What's wrong with Holden Vance?" I whine

"He's in my gym class." Robbie says with a disgusting tone "The guys a _total_ tool."

"Agreed." Beck nods

"Is this the guy from our media class?" Andre clarifies, Beck nods "Oh _jeez_."

"He's super sweet to me!" I insist "I think he's a pretty nice guy!"

"That's what he _wants_ you to think."

"Why can't you all just be happy for me?" I snap "Seriously! Jade has Beck. Tori has Andre. Lydia has Robbie. And who do I have? No one! I have a _baby_!"

"Look we're just saying-"

"You know what? Never mind. Let's just drop it." I say flatly "What are you guys doing tonight?"

"We're doubling with Andre and Tori." Jade explains "There's a concert in the park."

"And we're going out to dinner." Robbie adds "And then you're going with Holden. Nobody's lonely tonight."

"That's a first." Jade laughs

* * *

"You're house is so cute!" I admit to Holden as we pull into his driveway.

It's literally a cute little house with a white picket fence.

"Thanks." He chuckles as we walk up the front path "It's way smaller than our house in Woodside, but we don't really need as much space now that my brother and sister have moved out."

He opens the door and we both step inside. The front hallway is lined with family photos and pieces of art.

"Are your parents here?" I ask as we make our way deeper into the house

"Nah." He shakes his head "My older sister just got a new job so they're out celebrating."

"You didn't go?"

He shakes his head.

"My sister and I were never really close. There was too big of an age gap, and my brother was right there in the middle of us." He explains "Plus, she's super logical and by the books, whereas I'm more artistic and creative."

"I'd prefer to be artistic and creative over logical and by the books any day." I smirk

"Me too." He agrees "Come on, the _good_ TV is in the basement."

He opens the basement door and moves down the stairs like it's nothing, I however, take a little extra time.

"Oh jeez! Sorry!" He exclaims, running back up to meet me and extending his hand for support "Sometimes I forget."

"It's no big deal." I assure him when we reach the bottom "Only about three more months and I'll be normal again."

"Normal." He chuckles "You say it like it'll be easy."

"I'm hoping it will be." I shrug as I sit down on the couch, he starts turning on the TV "I mean, I'm not keeping it."

"You're still giving something up." He reminds me "That baby is fifty percent you after all."

"Okay are you gonna sit here and make me feel guilty or are we going to watch a movie?" I laugh, placing my hand on my bump "Speaking of that, what are we watching?"

"Right sorry." He chuckles "I was thinking The Princess Bride, is that okay with you?"

"Why do all guys love that movie so much?" I smirk "Yes it's fine."

"Cool." He takes the DVD out of the disc and slides it into the tray "And I don't know really, maybe it's just the humor they use."

"Must be."

When the movie is all set up, he grabs the remote and then walks over to join me on the couch. When he puts his arm around me and pulls me closer to him, I have to admit, my heart flutters. I snuggle up into him, resting my head on his chest as the movie begins.

"This is nice." I whisper to him

"Yeah." He agrees "It is."

We watch the movie for about forty five minutes without saying anything, it feels nice to just be able to sit with someone and feel so content without even needing any verbal interactions.

Before I know it, he nuzzling his nose into my neck, not aggressively, but just enough for me to take the hint, so I turn my head towards him, and he starts kissing me. Not quite making out, but we're getting there.

I reposition myself so I'm more comfortable and he does the same.

I break away first, smiling at him, seeing as it was my first kiss in six months. But when we make eye contact, the boy I see isn't the same boy I thought I was with. He presses his lips back to mine, sticking his tongue into my mouth demanding more. He pulls me onto his lap and suddenly I become very uncomfortable with the situation.

"Holden-"

He doesn't give me a chance to continue, his tongue is back in my mouth, and his hands begin searching all over my body.

"Holden...listen...I do...nt...think-" His hand finds the bottom of my shirt and begins to pull it up, over my head.

I slap him.

I've never slapped anyone before, at least not with the intention to hurt them.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I exclaim "Did you really think you were getting laid on the first date? Is this _even_ a date?"

"Don't get mad at me!" He snaps "I gave you the heads up!"

"You said we would watch a movie or something!"

"This is the 'or something'!" He yells "I thought it was implied!"

"Why on earth would you want to have sex with a pregnant girl?" I ask him

"It's not like I can get you pregnant _again_!"

I stop and stare at him for a second.

He doesn't care about me like he said he did. He might not even_ like_ me.

He was just trying to use me.

"_Unbelievable_!" I scoff, turning towards the stairs

"Where the hell are _you_ going?"

"Away from you!" I snap, pausing on the stairs for a minute "And you better believe when you walk into physics on Monday morning, you'll have a new lab partner!"

I stomp up the stairs and slam the basement door closed behind me. Realizing the rage is probably terrible for the baby, I try to calm myself down as I approach the front door and slide on my flip flops. But then I realize, Holden picked me up, and he lives all the way across town. So I have no way home.

I'm certainly not going back down there to beg him to take me home, that's for sure. So as I exit the house, I pull out my phone and dial the first person I know will be willing to come to my rescue.

* * *

A car pulls up to the curb in front of Holden's house and turns off it's engine. I look up to see the familiar black 2009 Toyota highlander, and already start to feel a little better.

"Cat!" Robbie exclaims getting out of the driver's seat and rushing over to me "Sorry I took so long! My gps didn't recognize the area!"

"It's alright." I sniff, unable to make eye contact with him

"Cat..." He whispers, kneeling down next to me "Hey, look at me."

I shake my head.

"Come on."

I turn to face him, I can only imagine what I look like.

"Hey don't cry." He pulls me into a hug "Please don't cry, I hate it when you cry!"

"I'm so sorry for ruining your night!" I apologize "I mean, you were out with Lydia and I just feel so awful for making you come get me."

"Don't apologize." He tells me "I told you any time you need a ride to call me and I'd be there. Don't apologize."

"You..." I choke on a sob in the back of my throat "You're not gonna say 'I told you so'?"

"Never." He assures me, getting to his feet "What I am going to do, is go inside and teach that jerk a lesson! Any asshole who thinks he can hurt my best friend and get away with it is sadly mistaken!"

"No!" I exclaim, trying to stand up "Help me please!"

He extends both hands to me, helping me to my feet.

"No, Robbie please. Don't make any more trouble." I beg "That guy was a football player he could snap you in half. Please, just take me home."

"Absolutely not." He says "I'm taking you to that ice cream place you like to get the biggest dish of strawberry sherbet they sell. And_ then_ I'll take you home."

"Really?" I gasp

"Only if I get to see that killer Cat Valentine smile?" He bargains, which makes me laugh "There we go, that's the Cat I know."


	16. Chapter 16

_Cat's POV_

"You guys don't have to do this..." I sigh

"Yes we do." Robbie assures me

"Yeah." Andre agrees "Nobody hurts lil red and gets away with it."

"What are you gonna do?" I ask "Beat him up? You'll get suspended!"

"They might not be able to beat him up, but they can look intimidating." Lydia adds

"Alright I guess." I shrug as we approach the physics classroom.

The five of us stand leaning against the lockers just outside the door.

"So the lil guy still isn't moving around yet, huh?" Tori asks, poking my stomach with her pointer finger.

"Nope." I shake my head "But the doctor says he's healthy so..."

"_He_?" Lydia raises an eyebrow "Is it a boy?"

"I don't know. Usually babies are 'he' until determined otherwise." I shrug

"_Really_?"

"Hey." Robbie laughs "She's moved on from calling it an _'it_', let's take what we can get."

I stick my tongue out at him, he returns the gesture.

"But you're not even the _least_ bit concerned?" Tori asks

"Not yet." I tell her "I mean, if I get to seven months and I still haven't felt anything then maybe, but right now I'm just thankful it's not able to keep me up at night."

"It totally keeps you up at night." She chuckles "You were tweeting about it at two am this morning!"

"Okay it keeps me up." I admit "But not because it's kicking."

"And we're back to 'it'..." Robbie sighs "Crap, guys we only have two minutes. We better get going."

"But Holden hasn't walked by yet!" Tori says

"Honestly babe, I don't think he's going to." Andre tells her, then kisses her cheek "See you in Sikowitz's class."

"Yeah guys, see you later." Robbie waves goodbye, then walks away down the hallway with Andre and Lydia.

"Come on." Tori links her arm around mine "He might already be inside."

We enter the classroom only to find that Holden isn't inside either.

"Excuse me, Mr. Waters?" I say approaching the teachers desk

"Good morning, Cat?" He smiles "What's up?"

"I actually was wondering if I could possibly switch lab partners..." I sigh "I mean, I know you like to keep us in alphabetical order incase we have substitutes or something, but I'm _really_ not comfortable-"

"I actually was going to talk to you about that anyway." He interrupts "I got an email from administration this morning, apparently Holden dropped the course."

I hear Tori start snickering behind me. I turn around to look at her, glaring, and she covers her mouth with her hand to stifle the laughter.

"Seriously?" I ask him "He _dropped_ the class."

"Apparently it was too much for him to handle." Mr. Waters shrugs "And evidently he got all of his science credits at his old school, so it's allowed."

"Huh." Is all I can say

"Strange, I know. But I'll just move everyone up a seat," he tells me "So now you can sit with Tori."

"Alright." I say "Thank you, Mr. Waters."

"Not a problem."

"I cannot _believe_ this." I whisper to Tori as we approach our lab table "What an ass."

"More like what a coward." She corrects me "But whatever, right? Now you don't have to worry about him."

"But know he thinks he gets the satisfaction." I sigh

"He _thinks_ he does. He doesn't actually."

* * *

"What an ass wipe." Andre shakes his head as we explain the situation at lunch later that day. "Can't even show his face."

"_Told_ you he was a tool." Beck sighs

"Thank you Beckett." I say sarcastically "I hadn't figured that out yet!"

"Alright alright, calm down you two." Jade scolds "I won't even hesitate to separate you."

"He started it." I say

"And I just ended it." She says sternly "From this point forward, no more talk about Holden Vance? The jerk doesn't deserve the acknowledgement. _Understood_?"

The whole table nods and murmurs in agreement, just as Robbie's phone starts to ring.

"Hello?" He answers "Yes, this is Robbie."

"Who is it?" Lydia asks, grabbing his hand and lacing their fingers together

"It's the adoption agency." He whispers to her, causing everyone at our table to perk up a little bit "Yes, you're right, that is great news. Hang on just a second, she's right here I'll ask her."

"What do they want?" I ask

"Do you have plans Friday? Are you working?"

I shake my head no.

"Yeah we should be able to do Friday." He tells the person on the phone "Yep...absolutely...okay see you then."

"What was that about?" I raise an eyebrow at him as he hangs up "What are we doing Friday?"

"That was Carolyn." He smiles "The Curran's agreed to meet us for an interview!"

"That's great!" Tori exclaims "That's great...right?"

"Yeah." Robbie nods "It's really great, that means we'll be one step closer to picking our family! Right Cat?"

"Right." I sigh "I'm gonna go to the bathroom, I'll be right back."

I stand up, grab my water bottle, and start walking back towards the building. I make sure I'm far enough away from my friends before I allow the first tear to slide down my cheek.

"Cat!" A voice yells from behind me, I turn around to see Tori running to catch up with me "Hey Cat, wait up!"

"Hey." I stop, brushing the tears from my eyes, hoping to hide them "What's up?"

"Come on," she sighs "You and I both know you're upset, I saw it in your face before you even left the table. What's the matter?"

"Nothing...I just..." I hesitate "Nothing."

"Come on, it's not nothing." She whispers "Are you upset about meeting with that couple? Are you thinking you might actually want to keep the baby?"

"What?" I exclaim "No! I don't want the baby, Tori! I tried to abort it remember? God no...just my hormones are all screwed up and..."

"And...?"

"And it's real now." I cross my arms across my chest "I'm pregnant, and I'm gonna have a baby in less than three months and it gonna _hurt_ and...and...and..."

"Woah Cat, hey." She hugs me as I start crying again "It's okay, it's gonna be okay...Yeah the baby is probably going to sneak up on you but that's normal...and yes it might hurt a little but it's nothing you can't handle...thousands of women do it everyday and live to tell the story...it'll be okay."

"But what if it's not?" I sniff

"Just don't think like that." She assures me "If you don't think like that everything is going to be fine."


	17. Chapter 17

_Cat's POV _

"Do I look okay?" Robbie asks

"You look fine." I laugh, straightening his tie "Why are you so nervous, they're the ones who should be freaked out here, not us."

"Well what if they don't like us? What if they don't want the baby?"

"Then it's not meant to be, and we find another couple." I smile "It's just an interview, Robbie."

"Says the one who was practically _crying_ over it this morning." He smirks

"Hey, _I_ have baby hormones." I exclaim "What's your excuse, Mr. Jumpy?"

"Shut up."

"I'll tell you what," I chuckle "I'll try to keep my hormones in check during the interview if you stop freaking out."

"Deal."

"Hey." Carolyn says, peaking her head in the door to the conference room "They're here, are you two ready?"

I nod.

"We might be about to meet out baby's future parents..." I whisper to Robbie as Carolyn disappears to bring the couple in

"No pressure."

"Cat and Robbie, I'd like you to meet Kathleen and David Curran." Carolyn introduces us.

We shake hands, a few 'nice to meet you's are exchanged, then we sit down at the table in the conference room. Robbie and I on one side, Kathleen and David on the other, and Carolyn at the head.

"I'm simply here as supervision on the agency's behalf." Carolyn explains "You guys are running the interview, feel free to ask each other whatever you'd like."

"Um...okay..." I hesitate, smiling nervously at Robbie "Let's just start with something basic...what do you guys do for a living?"

"I'm a pediatrician." David tells me "And Kathleen is a teacher."

"Teaching is fun!" I smile "What grade?"

"Kindergarten." She responds "It's a really fun age."

"So you have plenty of experience with kids then?" Robbie clarifies

"Absolutely." She assures us "And our son, Jack, he just turned three. So we've had some practice."

"You didn't mention him on your profile..."

"You probably saw our old profile, before we adopted him." David explains "We got him through this agency."

"Oh Jack is adopted too?"

"Yes, unfortunately, we're unable to have kids of our own..." Kathleen sighs "But we love him just the same."

"Well who wouldn't?"

"Do you mind if we ask you guys some questions?" David asks, pulling out his phone and opening his notes app

"Sure." I shrug "We don't have anything to hide, right Robbie?"

"Right."

"Okay...well...let's talk about you guys, what are you into? Like extracurriculars, or stuff for fun?"

"Singing." I grin "We're actually both at a performing arts high school...Hollywood Arts."

"Oh how lovely." Kathleen smiles "What about you, Robbie? What's your specialty?"

"Well I mean, I can sing, not nearly as well as Cat of course..." He blushes "I'm better with the dramatic arts, actually."

"Fascinating..." David nods "Now what about your childhood...did you enjoy it?"

"I had a great childhood." I tell them "My older brother and I were super close, we still are. My mom and I have a good relationship, my dad and I...well..."

"Do you not get along with your father?"

"I used to...before he found out I was pregnant...and before he found out my brother was gay..." I explain "He came out to me first, and my dad was mad at me for keeping it from him for so long, and yeah, he didn't really respond well to the baby..."

"Oh your brother is..." Kathleen hesitates, making an odd, almost horrified, face "Well that's okay."

"What about you Robbie?" David asks "Do you have any siblings?"

"I have a half sister..." He tells them "But I haven't seen her since I was seven or eight. My dad took off on us, and took her with him."

"I'm so sorry to hear that..."

"It's alright, I don't really remember much about either of them, so it's hard to miss them." He shrugs "But that's why it's really important to me that our baby goes to a family that really really loves them, and won't abandon them like my dad did with me."

"I can assure you," Kathleen smiles "We will love that baby to death, just like it was our own."

* * *

"Absolutely not." I say to Robbie as we get into the car after the interview "No way in _hell _I'm giving them my baby."

"_Our_ baby." He corrects me

"Whatever." I roll my eyes "I _can't_ give them the baby, Robbie. I can't."

"Because you don't want to give the baby up or something else?" He asks, putting the car in gear and pulling out of the parking space.

"Did you _not_ see that woman's face when I mentioned Charlie was gay?" I exclaim as we leave the lot "She looked absolutely _mortified_!"

"That's her personal opinion..." He sighs

"Yeah, well." I scoff "I hate her personal opinion. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to have my own flesh and blood raised in a homophobic environment. I won't be able to live with myself!"

"Alright, alright. Calm down." He tells me "I agree with you that it's not right, okay? And yes, as of right now the Curran's don't seem likely, but we still have two more families to meet with."

"And they already have a son!" I continue "We were only looking at couples that were looking to adopt their first! That way all their love and attention is focused on the baby!"

"Yes I know." He sighs "Cat I'm not disagreeing with you, I didn't really like them all that much either. They seemed a little...fake."

"I know, right?" I shriek "Sorry! Sorry! Didn't mean to yell, I just get really excited it's the-"

"Hormones." He finishes for me "I know."

I snicker to myself and lean my head against the window, staring out as the suburban landscape slowly starts to morph into what looks a little bit more like Los Angeles.

The song that starts playing through Robbie's speakers doesn't appeal to either one of us, so he starts filing through the presets one at a time.

"Oh!" I exclaim when he pressed the third button "I like this song! Keep it! Keep it!"

"Okay, okay!" He laughs, returning his hand to the steering wheel

"'_Cause all of my kindness...Is taken for weakness.._." I sing along "_Now I'm Four Five Seconds from wildin', And we got three more days 'til Friday, I'm just tryna make it back home by Monday mornin', I swear I wish somebody would tell me, Ooh_...OH! OH MY GOD!"

I feel an odd sensation in my stomach, almost like a muscle spasm, but stronger. Like someone is flicking me, but from the inside...

"What?" Robbie panics, turning his signal on and pulling to the side of the road "What's wrong?"

"I...I don't know." I admit "I think the baby just kicked..."

"What?" He gasps, placing a hand on my stomach "Really?"

"I don't know." I shrug "It was really weird! I mean...I can't think of anything else it could've been..."

"I don't feel anything..." He sighs, replacing his hand "Maybe you just imagined it..."

"There's no way in hell I imagined that." I shake my head "I definitely felt _something_."

"Well if he was moving...he's not moving anymore." He frowns "Wait! You were singing!"

"Robbie, don't be ridiculous."

"I'm serious! Babies can recognize voices, even in the womb." He exclaims "Start singing again."

"_Now I'm Four Five Seconds from wildin'.._." I sing, giving him a questionable look "_And we got three more days 'til Friday, I'm just tryna make it back home by Monday_-AY okay there it is. Did you feel it?"

"I did!" He grins "Wow, that's amazing..."

"It feels really weird." I admit "Like, I knew there was something in there, but now I_ really_ know there's something in there. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet..."

"I'm sure it'll grow on you."

"I really hope it does." I laugh "Or it's going to be a long few months."


	18. Chapter 18

_Cat's POV_

"HI MOM!" I call as I walk in the door from work on a Monday night

"MOM ISNT HERE!" Charlie calls back from the kitchen

"Hey." I laugh, walking in to meet him "What are you doing here? Hey Tuck."

"Hey." Tuck waves

"I was kinda looking for Mom..." He sighs "I just called, she's at the grocery store. She'll be back soon."

"Cool." I say, setting my backpack and purse down on the kitchen table "Are you guys staying for dinner?"

"We hadn't planned on it."

"Aw." I pout "I never see you anymore!"

"I know kiddo, I know." He frowns "I'm working on it, I promise."

"Okay..." I sigh "So if you're not here for dinner, why are you here?"

"If I tell you will you promise to act surprised when we tell Mom?" He asks

"Sure." I shrug "What's up?"

"Well, remember how I had that corporate meeting in Las Vegas last weekend?" He smiles, walking over and standing next to Tuck

"Yeah?"

"Well, I brought Tuck with me." He grins "We kinda made a weekend trip out of it."

"Oh! I know where this is going!" I gasp "Did you?"

"We did!" He exclaims "We got married!"

"Oh my god!" I squeal, running up to him and hugging him "Charlie! I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks! We're pretty happy t-WOAH!" He pushes me back from him "What was that?"

"Oh." I giggle, placing a hand on my baby bump "That was the baby."

"It kicks now?"

"It kicks now." I repeat "Weird huh?"

"Oh my god, no!" He exclaims "That's so wonderful! Oh my god, Tuck! Come feel this!"

Tuck stands up from the chair he had been sitting in and walks over to where we are.

"Look! Look!" Charlie takes his hand and places it where the baby had last kicked "Just wait."

"Hi Cat." Tuck smiles "How are you?"

"I'm good." I chuckle "How are you?"

"Well, I'm a newlywed." He grins "So I'm pretty damn happ- oh. Hey little guy!"

"Isn't that amazing?" Charlie says to him

"Isn't what amazing?" My mom asks, entering the kitchen carrying a bag of groceries

"Here Momma, let me get that for you!" Charlie offers, taking the groceries from her and carrying them over to the counter "And we were just talking about Cat's baby's new trick!"

"Oh the kicking?" She laughs "Believe me, it's not so amazing when she's up wandering around the house at two am because the little goober won't stop moving."

"I think it might be nocturnal." I add, laughing a little

"Hello Tuck." My mom waves to Tuck, who's still standing next to me "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Actually Mom..." Charlie smiles "Tuck and I have something we want to tell you."

I'm tempted to pull out my phone so I can take a picture of my mother's reaction, but I resist the urge, knowing I'll give up part of the surprise.

"You're not pregnant too?" She laughs "Are you?"

"No." Tuck shakes his head "No I'm not. Thank god."

"Well then what is it then."

"Well." Charlie begins "Last weekend, I had a corporate meeting in Las Vegas and you know, I fingered I'd take Tucker with me and make a nice little weekend trip out of it. And...well...we kinda decided to get married!"

"Oh Charlie!" She gasps "Baby! That's wonderful!"

"That was the hardest two minutes of my life!" I exclaim, laughing as Mom and Charlie hug each other and then with Tuck "No more secrets please!"

"Don't worry, Cat." Tuck laughs "We're done for a while."

"No." I correct him "Done forever. I don't think I can handle anymore."

* * *

"Does it hurt?" Tori asks

"No." I shake my head "Not really. It actually kinda tickled at first."

"And now?" Jade raises an eyebrow

"Now it's annoying." I admit "I just want this thing out of me."

"Well have you picked a family yet?"

"No." I groan

"Well then you better hope it stays in there as long as possible until you figure that out."

We're sitting in my living room, pizza box open in front of us, MTV playing on the television.

"Right now we're leaning towards the Mitchell's." I tell them both "I mean, we haven't met with the Warner's yet, but the Mitchell's are already way better than the Curran's. They own their own business in the downtown area of this cute little suburb! And they have a cute little house with a white picket fence and a cute little dog..."

"Sounds cute." Jade smirks

"Oh shut up!" I throw a pillow at her, the motion causes the baby to extend it's leg, jabbing my rib "Wow! Okay! I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize..." Jade tells me "It didn't hurt."

"The baby kicked me in the ribs." I tell her

"Yikes."

"Yeah." I nod "That's only happened a few times, but it's becoming more common."

"That's he's because running out of space, he's growing." Tori says "Aren't you little guy?"

"Don't talk to it." I beg "Please. The last thing I need is another person to get attached to it."

"Who's attached?" Tori asks

"My money is on Charlie." Jade chuckles, I nod in agreement "Don't worry, he's an adult, he'll get over it."

"I'm sure he will." I laugh "He's too busy enjoying being married."

"When did that happen?" Tori exclaims

"Last week." I chuckle "They were in Vegas and figured what the hell."

"Oh my gosh that's so awesome." She squeals "Tell him I say congratulations."

"I will." I sigh "Next time I see him. Which probably won't be until thanksgiving."

"At least you can still see him from time to time!" Tori reminds me "It could be so much worse!"

"I'm just really looking forward to the new year." I tell them "The baby will be born and off with people who can actually take care of it. Charlie will be adjusted to his new job and to being married. My dad will be talking to me again. Everything will be..."

"Normal." Jade finishes for me

"Yeah." I smile "Normal."


	19. Chapter 19

_Cat's POV _

"I like the Mitchell's."

"Well I like the Warner's."

"My vote should count for more." I say "_I'm_ the one carrying it around and then pushing it out."

"But it's got my DNA too!"

"Alright!" Lydia cuts in "You two are getting no where! Talk about it some other time please, not at dinner."

"Sorry." Robbie leans over and kisses her cheek "It's just nerve wracking, you know? We only have a few weeks left..."

"Six." I add

"Six." He repeats "In the adoption world that's really _not_ a lot of time..."

"Well, you'll have plenty of time to discuss it after your birthday dinner, okay?"

"Okay." He sighs

"To Robbie." Beck raises his glass of soda "Happy eighteenth, man."

"Thanks." He blushes as we all knock our glasses of respective beverages together

Lydia had arranged a surprise birthday dinner for Robbie at this nice little hole in the wall place downtown Los Angeles. It's not quite Maestro's, but it's certainly better than Inside-Out Burger, reasonably priced too, for what we got.

"Have you bought a lottery ticket yet?" Tori asks him

"Nah." Robbie shakes his head "Haven't had the time."

"We can stop on the way home." Lydia tells him "But if you win big, you have to share."

"Of course I'll share with _you_." He smiles before giving her a quick peck on the lips, then moving to take a sip of his drink

"Just remember that having sex with Lydia is illegal now." Andre chuckles, causing Robbie to almost choke "Oh, sorry. Too soon?"

"Yeah." Robbie nods

"Moving on from that..." Jade sighs "Any big plans for the weekend?"

"Well, I'd thought about apartment shopping."

This time it's our turn to practically choke on our beverages.

"Apartment shopping?" I repeat, trying to make sure I've heard him correctly

"Yeah." He shrugs "Why is everybody looking at me like that? I have the money to do it. I don't get along with my mom that great and it's legal now. So why not?"

We're all quiet for a moment, unsure of who should actually speak up and tell him how crazy he's being.

"Oh Jesus, I'll do it." Jade speaks up "Robbie. Think about this for a second, okay? You're still trying to get into the Business program at University of Arizona, right?"

"Well yeah..."

"Then why the _hell_ would you buy an apartment only to move out of it in eight months or so when you go off to college?"

"Save your money dude." Beck advises him "Put up with your mom a little while longer."

"Says the guy who lives on his own."

"In my _parent's_ driveway!"

"Alright alright, calm down." Tori says "Do you at least see what we're saying here, Robbie?"

"Yeah, you're right." He sighs "I guess I didn't really think it through."

"Aw don't worry." Lydia coos, resting her head on his shoulder "You still have a lottery ticket with your name on it waiting at the nearest gas station."

"Okay, if I win the lottery..." Robbie laughs "I don't care what any of you think, I'm definitely moving out."

* * *

Later that night, I lay awake in bed, trying to fall asleep, but I can't seem to get comfortable. My back hurts, every position I lay in feels awkward, and the baby won't stop moving.

"Okay." I sigh "If you're nocturnal like I think you are, I feel bad for your parents. Wow. That sounded really mean, sorry!"

I never thought I'd reach the point where I'm laying awake after midnight talking to a fetus. I guess of you're tired enough, you'll do anything.

"I guess you can't get comfortable either, huh?" I say "Is that why you keep moving around? Or are you just trying to get back at me for giving you up?"

What's bad is I almost actually expected the thing to answer.

"If only you knew, kid." I chuckle "I'm seventeen, Robbie, the guy who's always around? He's eighteen. Usually parents are older than that. Believe me, you _don't_ want us to be your parents. I mean, I'm still a baby myself. The people who you'll know as Mom and Dad, they'll take much better care of you than we would ever be able to. It's the right choice, I _promise_ you."

At this point, the movement in my abdomen has stopped. Only I would be able to bore my own unborn child to sleep.

I reach over at grab my phone off my bedside table, opening the Twitter app, typing out a message.

**CaterinaValentine**: _Late night, can't sleep. If anybody else is still up, text me PLEASE! _

I lock the phone and place it fave down on my chest, sighing as I stare up at the ceiling. Only to pick it up again when it starts buzzing, signaling that someone is calling me.

"Hello?" I answer

"Hey." Robbie says, his voice sounding like he's also desperate for sleep he can't find "Can't sleep, huh?"

"No." I sigh "And I'm guessing if you're up, you can't either."

"I just got home actually." He tells me "Lydia was supposed to spend the night, but she...she had some girl problems and just wanted to sleep in her own bed. So I took her home."

"Spend the night, hm?" I tease "I thought it was still 'too soon' for that?"

"Not like that." He laughs "Kinda like...have you ever just wanted to sleep all cuddled up to someone? Like not even sex, just actually sleeping together?"

"No." I chuckle "My longest relationship was four months, it never got to that point."

"Oh right." I can practically hear him rolling his eyes "Danny."

"Yeah, Danny." I imitate his tone "Like _you've_ never had a relationship you regret."

"Well actually, Lydia has been my only relationship." He reminds me "And I don't regret a single thing, I love her."

"Ooh the L-word." I smirk "Does she know you use that?"

"She does. She's even used it back a couple times."

"Look at you being all in love." I chuckle "Good for you, Robbie."

"Thanks." He tells me "So how's the baby?"

"I think I put it to sleep." I admit

"How?"

"I was talking to it..."

"Why?"

"I was trying to explain that it needs to stop destroying my ribs because it's mad we're giving it up." I explain "I told it the people we would give it to would be much better parents than we would."

"And that worked?" He chuckles "Wow, easily persuaded."

"Hey, it got it to stop moving, so hopefully I'll actually be able to fall asleep now."

"I'll let you do that then." He tells me "Goodnight, best friend. I'll talk to you in the morning."

"Goodnight, best friend." I smile, then hang up the phone.


	20. Chapter 20

_Cat's POV_

"CAT!" Jade exclaims as she reaches an arm out to stop me from falling "Jesus Christ! That's like the third time tonight!"

"Sorry!" I shake myself awake "Sorry...I'm just super tired, and my back hurts, and this line isn't moving..."

"I told you this was my going to work well..." Jade sighs, glancing at Tori "We should've waited and gone out during the day."

"Agreed." Tori nods

"You guys are no fun!" I pout "We've gone Black Friday shopping together every year since Tori transferred!"

"Yes, but this is the first year you've been _pregnant_." Jade points out "You're practically falling asleep in line."

"Am not." I say stifling a yawn "Perfectly fine."

"You sure about that?" Tori raises an eyebrow

"Okay, so maybe I'm a little tired." I admit "But that's half the fun! Come on guys, every year, we've gone and stood in line at Wanko's for hours, blown tons of money, gone and hit all of the other stores on our list, and stopped at that cute little cafe on Sunset for breakfast on the way home! It's _tradition_. Why break tradition just because I'm pregnant?"

"Because we can drink coffee to keep us awake, and you can't?"

"Because you can't weasel your way through tiny spaces to get to all the good merchandise before everyone else like you used to?"

"Because-"

"Okay!" I hold my hands up to stop them "I get it, I get it."

"Maybe we should just head home..." Tori suggests "All of this stuff will still be here later this weekend..."

"_Guys_!" I groan

"Cat!" Jade mimics me "Come on, you just admitted to being tired."

"Fine..." I sigh "But can we please finish here? I don't know how much longer I can stand this phone! We're almost to the door anyway..."

I turn and glance at the line that wraps around the outside of the Pear Store, we're about twenty feet from the entrance, and they only let about 35 in at a time. They're selling the new PearPhone8's for crazy cheap, and all three of us are due for upgrades.

"She has a point..." Tori shrugs "Besides, who knows how long this sale will last..."

"Fine." Jade agrees, but reluctantly "But after this, we're going straight home, no breakfast this year."

"Who would want to eat breakfast at 4:30 in the morning anyway?"

* * *

"Hey Mom?" I say

"Yes sweetheart?"

"How..." I hesitate "How bad is it going to hurt?"

A few weeks later, and I'm laying on the couch in our living room, half watching It's A Wonderful Life, half drifting in and out of only light in the room comes from the lamp next to the chair my mother is sitting in reading a book, the TV, and our Christmas tree that stands all decorated in the corner. I should really be studying for my finals next week, but I'm too comfortable where I am.

"How bad is what going to hurt?" She chuckles

"You know." I sigh "Having the baby..."

"I was wondering when this was going to come up..." She smirks, closing her book and placing it on the floor before getting up and walking over to sit next to me on the couch "You'll be okay, baby girl. Thousands of women do it everyday and live to tell the tale."

I lift my head up and she sits down, then I replace my head on her lap.

"You didn't answer my question." I sigh "Which really concerns me."

"Do you want me to sugarcoat it?" She asks "Or do you want the truth?"

"The truth." I say after hesitating for a moment "I don't want to be surprised."

"Well." She begins "With both you and your brother, nothing was really all that bad until my water broke..."

"And then what?"

"Well, then the contractions started to get stronger, and it felt like the worst menstrual cramp slash gas pain that I'd ever had, combined with someone stabbing me in the stomach. It would subside and come back until I finally got my epidural..." She explains "Sorry, too much?"

"No." I cringe "I'm glad I'm finding out now instead of in the moment. Hopefully it will make it less scary."

"Should I keep going?" She asks "Or do you want me to stop?"

"Keep going." I tell her "It gets better after the epidural, right?"

"Most of the time yes." She nods "I felt a whole lot better within twenty minutes of getting both of mine."

"So the whole entire process basically sucks?" I clarify

"Basically." She laughs, playing with my hair "But I'd do it all again to get you and your brother."

"That's what I was afraid of." I sigh

"What do you mean?"

"Most women, their motivation is the joy they'll feel holding their baby." I tell her "I'm _never_ going to hold my baby. I don't even want to _see_ my baby. It will make it ten times easier to give it to it's _real_ parents."

"That you and Robbie _still _haven't picked yet." She reminds me

"Oh shush!" I exclaim "We're getting there."

"Are you going to let him stay in the room?" She asks "When the baby is born?"

"Probably not." I sigh "I mean, I'll let him come to the hospital with me, and sit with me and stuff. But there's really no point in letting him be in the room when the baby is actually born, there's no emotional attachment, you know. It will probably just be you and the adoptive parents,_ if _we've picked them yet."

"Again, you two should probably get on that." She chuckles "You really don't have that much time left. Babies work on their own time schedules, in reality, it could be any day now."

"We're trying...just that every time we try to sit down and make the decision, we start arguing and I get really stressed out..." I sigh "And what do you mean, any day now? I'm not due for another three weeks?"

"Stranger things have happened, Cat." She shrugs "You never know."

"Listen to me, kid." I say I the direction of my abdomen "I honestly don't care if you come early, but here's the deal. You have to wait until I'm done with first semester finals, okay? And preferably, I would like it of you would wait until Robbie and I have picked your parents."

"Babies work on their own schedules." My mom repeats "It will come when it wants to come."


	21. Chapter 21

_Cat's POV _

"Perfect." I smile, pulling my curling iron away from my head and letting one last bright red curl from my side pony tail fall against my cheek.

I unplug the iron from the wall, then pick up a can of extra hold hairspray, spraying my entire head to keep my pony tail in place.

Looking up, I take a second to admire myself in the mirror. I'm wearing a gorgeous navy blue dress. It falls down to about mid-thigh, with straps about two inches wide, and a silver ribbon tied right above my baby bump. If I wasn't pregnant, I'd say I look hot.

"_He's making a list, and checking it twice..._" I sing as I wander down the hallway from my bathroom to my bedroom "_Gonna find out who's naughty and nice..._"

My phone starts buzzing in my hand, and looking down I see that I'm getting a phone call. So I answer, turning on speaker phone, and setting the device down on my desk.

"Hello!" I answer, grabbing some newly clean laundry off my bed and starting to put it away.

"Hey!" Robbie responds "Merry Almost-Christmas!"

"Thanks!" I giggle "Merry Almost-Christmas to you too! What's up?"

"Nothing really." He says "I just hadn't heard anything from you at all today. Just wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"Yeah I'm fine." I tell him "Sorry, I was helping my mom get everything ready for tonight, cooking and cleaning and whatnot. I just didn't have my phone on me."

"Ah." He responds as I take the phone of speaker and press it back to my ear "Whatcha got going on tonight?"

"Charlie and Tuck are coming over for an early dinner." I explain "We're celebrating with them tonight since they're spending tomorrow with Tuck's parents. Which is so totally weird because usually I'm with my Dad on Christmas Eve and my mom on Christmas Day. What about you? Anything fun planned for tonight?"

"Christmas Eve Mass with Lydia and her parents." He chuckles "I have to wear a suit."

"Well yeah." I laugh "It's Christmas Eve! Everybody dresses up! I'm dressed up and I'm just having dinner at my house!"

This is actually the first year in probably my entire life my father isn't dragging me to Christmas Eve Mass with him.

"Yeah well a bunch of her family is going to be there." He tells me "I'm a little nervous."

"Well you already got the stamp of approval from her parents." I chuckle "That's supposed to be the hardest part."

"Her uncle was a marine!"

"Robbie, you'll be fine."

"I hope you're right."

"I'm a woman." I laugh "I'm always right."

"CAT!" My mom yells from downstairs "YOUR BROTHER WILL BE HERE SOON! COME DOWNSTAIRS PLEASE."

"I've gotta go." I tell Robbie "Have fun at church. And thanks for checking up on me."

"Not a problem." He says "And hey, if I don't talk to you before tomorrow, Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." I smile and then we both hang up.

I walk down the hall and downstairs, almost bumping into my mom when I enter the kitchen.

"Oh there you are!" She laughs "Wow, you look nice."

"Thanks." I smile, playing with the hem of my dress "Are Tuck and Charlie here yet?"

"Do you hear Charlie?" She chuckles "No, but they should be soon. Sit down kiddo, take a load off. You've been rushing around all day."

"Mom if I sit down, I don't know if I'll be able to get back up." I admit "I'm basically nine months pregnant."

"You'll be fine." She assures me "Go ahead, go watch some TV."

I sigh and turn around, making my way into the living room where the TV is. I ease myself down into the couch and grab the remote, turning it to the Family Channel where A Year Without Santa Claus is playing.

"Yes!" I whisper

This movie was one of my favorites when I was little.

About fifteen minutes later, I hear the front door open and Charlie and Tuck enter the house, but I'm too invested in the movie, and too lazy, to get up. They'll come to me.

"Hey! A Year Without Santa Claus! I love this one!" Charlie exclaims, entering the living room "_I'm Mister Green Christmas, I'm Mister Sun, I'm Mister Heat Blister..._"

"_I'm Mister Hundred and One!_" I sing back as I try to stand up, but it's a slow, unsuccessful process

"Here baby sister, let me help you out there."

He extends both hands to me and helps me to my feet, then pulls me into a hug.

"Merry Christmas!" He smiles "Well, Christmas Eve, but same thing."

"Merry Christmas." I laugh "Where's Tuck?"

"He's talking to Mom." He tells me "Come on, I want to give you your Christmas present."

"It's only 4:30!" I argue as he pulls me towards the front hallway "We haven't even had dinner yet!"

"You need to open it now!" He argues back "Come on, just trust me."

"Is she ready?" Tuck asks as we approach the door, standing with his back to us.

"Yeah!" Charlie tells him "She's ready."

"What am I ready for?"

"You'll see!" Charlie tells me "Okay Tuck. Go!"

Tuck turns around to face me, grinning ear to ear. At first, I'm not sure what I should be looking for, but then I see the small, yorkie puppy wriggling in his arms.

"Oh my gosh!" I gasp as he sets the puppy on the floor, letting it runs towards me "Is this for real?"

"Merry Christmas, Cat." Tuck says "He's all yours."

With Charlie's help, I kneel down on the floor. The puppy runs up and starts sniffing around my knees.

"Hey buddy." I giggle "God, you're adorable! Thank you guys! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

He has a red ribbon around his neck, along with a tag that says 'Merry Christmas! Love, Charlie and Tuck'.

"I can't believe you guys got me a puppy!" I smile

"Neither can I..." My mom rolls her eyes

"We rescued him from a shelter." Charlie explains "They're not really sure how old he is, but he's about two years old, give or take a few months. He's neutered, and he's house broken."

"He's been with us for about two weeks now." Tuck adds "He's a really good dog, I promise."

"What's his name?" I ask

"Prince." Charlie laughs "At least that's the name he came with, you can change it if you want."

"No! Prince is perfect!" I say, holding the dog up so we're eye to eye "Huh buddy? Is Prince not the prefect name for you? I think it is!"

The baby, which I had temporarily forgotten about for the moment, extends it's leg again, hitting my ribs and making me wince. I almost drop Prince, but luckily I don't.

"No! I wasn't talking to you!" I sigh "I'm not in charge of naming you! That's up to your parents!"

"Which she still hasn't picked yet." My Mom says to Charlie and Tuck

"Cat!"

"Robbie and I are going to lunch the day after Christmas!" I defend, setting Prince down so he can explore "And we're not coming home until we've picked! We're on it!"

"You better be. That baby will be here in a matter of days." Charlie reminds me

"Just help me up." I say flatly, extending my hands up to him

"Don't be hostile, children." My mother laughs, walking past us into the kitchen "Come on, dinner is just about ready."

"I'll help." I say, following her

"Awesome. Can you get the salad ready please?" She asks

"Sure."

I move to the fridge, grabbing everything I need to mix the salad together. Just as I'm about to set the containers down on the counter, I feel a sharp pain in my stomach, causing me to scream and drop everything I'm carrying, sending it crashing to the floor.

"Hey!" Charlie rushes over to me "Cat? What happened?"

"I...I don't know." I admit, resting my head on my arms on the edge of the counter "I just felt this shar- SHIT!"

The pain returns, lasting a little longer this time.

"Language, Caterina." My mother warns, switching places with Charlie "What's the matter?"

"I don't know." I whisper as a tear slides down my cheek "It felt like someone was stabbing me and I-"

I stop when I feel this uncomfortable popping sensation between my legs, followed by an odd rushing slash trickling...almost like I just got my period.

"Mom..." I say my voice full of panic

"What's the matter, baby?"

"I think my water just broke."


	22. Chapter 22

_Cat's POV_

"What's that?" I ask the nurse as she records data off one of the monitors I'm hooked up to

"It's a fetal monitor." She explains "It helps us keep truck of the baby's vitals."

"You can do that?"

"We can do that." She chuckles "I'll come check up again in a little while, okay? I'm going to go give this information to your doctor, and we'll talk about getting you an epidural."

"Okay." I say as she exits, passing Tuck, who is carrying three Jimmy John's bags and a Target bag, on her way

"Sorry guys." He apologizes "You wouldn't _believe_ how many people want sandwiches on Christmas Eve."

"I feel so terrible." I sigh "Mom you made such a big dinner, and we didn't even get to eat it."

"Don't worry about it, baby." She assures me "I told you, babies work on their own schedule, they don't care of it's Christmas Eve or not."

"I know but I still feel bad."

"Would crackers make you feel better?" Tuck asks, pulling a package of saltines out of the target bag

I shrug and he tosses them to me. Believe me, I'd much rather have a sandwich from Jimmy Johns, but I'm only allowed light snacks and water right now, so I had to settle for crackers.

"Have you gotten a hold of Robbie yet?" Charlie asks

I check my phone to see if he's responded the the 27 text messages I've sent or the 13 phone calls I've made.

"No." I sigh "But he's at church with Lydia's family, his phone is probably off."

"I'm sure he'll get here as soon as he can."

"I hope so." I cringe

"Uh oh." Charlie jumps to his feet and grabs my hand "Come on, kiddo. Breathe through it, you'll be okay."

Contractions are hell. My mom description of them was spot on, but maybe a little too forgiving on their part. I feel like I want to curl up in a ball and die they hurt so bad. I can only breathe so much and squeeze Charlie's hand so hard.

"You good?" He asks when I finally relax

"Yeah." I nod "I think I'm good."

Honestly? I'm scared Robbie could miss the entire thing. Yes, church services on Christmas are normally only about an hour or so, but who knows when he'll turn his phone back on again? I mean, I've been at the hospital for maybe two hours, and I'm already five centimeters dilated. Weird right? I know. Something about it possibly being a 'precipitous labor' because I'm so small in every meaning of the word.

This is not at all how I'd planned spending my Christmas Eve. I wish I was at home with my family, eating the turkey my mom made, exchanging presents, and cuddling with my new puppy, who is probably scared to death, hiding in a corner at the neighbor's house. The only bright side is that I'll probably end up giving someone the best Christmas present ever...

"Sir!" Someone in the hallway says sternly "Please, don't run in here! Sir!"

"_You_!" Robbie exclaims, appearing at the doorway to my room, red faced and out of breath "Are _not_ a very easy person to track down!"

"Oh thank god!" I sigh leaning back against the pillows "Why aren't you answering your phone?"

"I had it on 'Do Not Disturb' during church and by the time I was able to read all your text messages and listen to all your voicemails it was dead." He explains "I'm sorry. I'm here now, though! I'll stay as long as you want me to!"

"What about Lydia?" I ask

"She understood completely." He smiles kneeling down next to my bed "And her family seemed to like me enough, so I think I'll be okay."

"I told you you would me."

"You're right, you did."

"Alright, well I think you two have some things you need to talk about." My mom says "Come on boys, let's finish our dinners in the cafeteria, maybe they have some kind of dessert down there!"

She exits with Tuck and Charlie, leaving Robbie and me alone.

"You know," I chuckle "I think this is the nicest I've ever seen you dressed outside of a school dance."

He's wearing a black suit with a dark red, almost maroon shirt, a black skinny tie, and black dress shoes.

"Yeah well, it was a special occasion." He says, standing up and taking off his shit jacket "But come on, we have to do this sooner or later. Let's talk baby families."

"I like The Mitchell's, you like The Warner's, and I refuse to give him to The Curran's." I say

"Alright, well let's try this, take five minutes and try to defend the Mitchell's to me. If I'm not convinced, I get five minutes to defend the Warner's."

"Alright." I shrug

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Then go."

"Alright, well, for starters, The Mitchell's live in the suburbs." I begin "Which is a way better place to raise a baby then in the middle of a huge city, like where the Warner's live. They also both have a stable income and flexible work hours, so there's not a doubt in my mind that they'd be able to provide for the baby, and-"

"Knock knock." A nurse says from the doorway "How about that epidural?"

"Can I have it?" I perk up, making Robbie laugh

"If you're ready." A man, I'm guessing the anesthesiologist, says next to her

"Yes please!" I beg

The nurse enters the room to start prepping me while the anesthesiologist disappears into the hallway again, and comes back pushing a cart of supplies.

"What's going on?" Robbie asks

"We're going to give her an epidural." The nurse explains "It's an anesthetic we insert into the lower part of her back that will almost completely numb her from the waist down."

"It goes in your back?!" He exclaims "Ouch!"

"Yeah no kidding." I roll my eyes

"Alright Cat, I'm gonna have you sit up with your legs over the side of the bed." The anesthesiologist instructs me "I'll warn you before we stick you."

"Alright." I nod as I sit up, turning to face Robbie "This apparently really hurts, will you hold my hand?"

"Of course!" He says, taking both of my hands in his "Squeeze as hard as you want, okay? Transfer all of the pain you feel to me."

I nod, smiling as I take a deep breath. The fact that I can't actually see what they're doing to me scares me almost as much as the actual needle does. Not that i can say if be better off if I could see it, I've done my research on the internet, and I know it's about the size of a drinking straw.

"Alright, I'm not going to lie to you..." The anesthesiologist warns me "It's going to hurt, okay? We're going to start on three. Ready? 1...2...3!"

The needle enters my back and I can't stop myself from letting out a small shriek as tears instantly begin to feel my eyes.

"Hey." Robbie whispers as I begin to double over "Hey hey hey hey hey, you're okay. It's going to be okay."

"It hurts." I cry

"I know it does."

The scary part is, this doesn't even hurt half as bad as the actual delivery is going to. Compared to that, this will feel like a picnic in the park. I don't know how people can do this more than once, or even at all.

Except I do.

Most women, when everything is said and done, get to hold their beautiful child in their arms, take it home, and then every day get to wake up and just admire this wonderful little person that they created themselves. But me? I'm going through all of this pain, crying, screaming, and puking. And for what? What will I get at the end of all of this? I know that as much as I want it to, after all of this, my life will never be the same.

The anesthesiologist finishes and I'm allowed to lay back down again, but I can't seem to stop myself from continuing to sob. I don't know if it's because of the pain, or because of my hormones, but there's one thing I do know.

"Cat don't worry..." Robbie frowns "It will stop hurting soon, or at least it won't hurt as bad."

"That's not why I'm crying." I shake my head "I'm crying because...because..."

"What is it?" He whispers, sitting down on the bed next to me and wrapping me up in a hug "Tell me what's wrong, I'll fix it. Or I'll try to at least."

"I'm crying because I know who I want the baby's parents to be."

"Alright." He chuckles, rocking us back and forth "That's a good thing, right? Don't cry!"

"No...Robbie." I cry "I want the baby's parents to be _us_."

"What?" He looks at me

"You heard me." I sob "I want to keep the baby. I get it if you don't want to, but I've come too far to give him up now Robbie, I can't do it, I just _can't_."

"Cat. Look at me." He tilts my chin up so we're eye to eye "I told you that night however many months ago on your front porch, that I would support you, whatever decision you made, right?"

I nod.

"Okay." He laughs "I'm not going to lie, ever since that night, I've been waiting, hoping, and praying that eventually we'd have this conversation. I want to keep the baby too."

"Really?"

"Really." He smiles

* * *

A few hours later, I'm still in labor. The epidural made my contractions weaker, therefor, slowing everything down all together. Which is both a blessing and a curse. I have more time to take everything in and actually process what is going on, but I become more and more scared the closer I come to delivering.

I went from a teenager who just happened to be having a baby she would give up for adoption, to a soon to be mom in literally less than three hours. On top of that, I have done absolutely nothing to prepare for this baby. I don't have a crib, or clothes, or diapers, or even a name. I don't even know if the baby is a boy or a girl.

And Robbie. We're not together, we're not even _close_ to being together. So how on earth are we going to raise a child? He's spent a majority of the night trying to convince me that everything will be okay, that we'll be able to figure something out. I know what it's like to have to bounce back and forth between two parents all the time, I know how much it sucks, but it's not like we have many other options. And god knows how Lydia will react.

I look at the clock directly on the wall in front of me, it reads 11:03. At this rate, I'll probably have a Christmas baby.

Charlie and Tuck lay cuddled up on the couch, watching reruns of The Big Bang Theory, along with Robbie who sits in the recliner next to my bed. My mom is out in the hallway, talking on the phone, presumably to a relative, most likely one of my aunts.

I'm about to honestly fall asleep, when a contraction hits. But it's not some ordinary contraction, it's ten times worse, and lasts longer than the normal ones.

"OW!" I exclaim, trying my best to curl up into a ball to stop the pain, but because of my epidural, I'm numb from the waist down and it's hard to move.

"What's wrong?" Robbie jumps up "Are you having a contraction?"

"Yeah..." I cringe "But...it's...a really bad...one."

One of the monitors next to my bed starts beeping. Slowly at first, progressively getting closer together and louder.

"Which one is that?" Charlie asks "Hers or the baby's?"

"I don't know." Robbie shrugs "But this isn't good either way."

He gets up and hits the 'help' button on the wall, summoning one of the nurses, meanwhile, Charlie grabs my hand as my mom re-enters the room.

"Breathe through it." He says calmly "Just like all the other ones."

"This is the worst one yet!" I exclaim "Make it stop Charlie, _please_!"

"If I could I would, kiddo!" He frowns, tears forming in his eyes "You know I would."

"Is everything okay?" A nurse asks entering the room

When she hears the beeping from the monitor, she moves to it immediately. I look at her briefly, I don't see much, but I know from the look on her face it's not good.

She reaches for the call button on the wall and starts hitting it repeatedly.

Before I know it, my room is flooded with several more nurses and a few doctors, all talking with concerned tones.

"She's not fully dilated yet!" I hear one of them say

"Her epidural is wearing off!" Another one says "She'll be able to feel it."'

"Whats going on?" I demand, basically in tears "Someone tell me what's wrong!"

"Let's move her to OR!" Doctor Corey orders

A few nurses detach my bed from the wall and begin wheeling me out to the hallway, my mom, Charlie, Tuck and Robbie running behind me.

"Cat!" Robbie exclaims, weaving his way through the sea of people and grabbing my hand "I'm here! It's going to be okay. Will somebody _please _tell us what's going on?"

"The baby's heartbeat is dropping too fast." Doctor Corey tells him as a nurse slips a mask over my face "We're going to have to do an emergency C-Section."

"C-Section!?" I exclaim, starting to feel groggy "_No_! Please no!"

"You'll be asleep the entire time don't worry."

"That's _not _what I'm worried about!"

If it's high risk enough they have to knock me out, something must be really wrong, because usually women stay awake, even during C-Sections.

"Sir, I'm sorry, I'm going to have to ask you to wait outside." One of the nurses says to Robbie

"But I'm the father!"

"It's standard protocol for a high risk delivery."

My bed is pushed through the doors to the OR, leaving Robbie and my family behind to argue with the nurse.

The last thing I remember is a medical team rushing around me, preparing for surgery, and then my entire world goes black.


	23. Chapter 23

_Cat's POV_

I wake up back in my hospital room. I'm alone, except for Robbie, who's sitting on the couch, doing something on his phone. The clock on the wall reads 2:39. It's dark outside, so I'm assuming that's 2:39 in the morning.

"Robbie?" I whisper

"Hey." He looks up, smiling, and sticks his phone is his pocket "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." I tell him "What...what happened?"

"You had to have an emergency C-Section." He explains "The baby's heart rate was dropping and they needed to deliver as soon as possible, otherwise you would've both been at risk. Your epidural was starting to wear off, so if they had kept you awake you would've felt the entire thing and it would've been extremely painful. So they knocked you out."

"I had a C-Section?" I clarify "Is that why I feel like I have no abdominal muscles whatsoever?"

"Probably." He chuckles "And don't be alarmed when you go to shower or change clothes and there's staples holding you together."

"_Staples_?" I gasp "Just...please tell me the baby is okay?"

"The baby is fine." He smiles "Perfectly healthy, five pounds, seven ounces. A tiny little thing, but healthy. Born at 11:47 on Christmas Eve."

"Thank god." I breathe a sigh of relief

"Definitely gave us a scare though..." He tells me "It took a good twenty minutes after it were born to get it's vitals where they needed to be...there was some fluid in the lungs, and the heart rate was low..."

"But everything is okay now?"

"Yeah." He grins "Everything is just fine now."

"What kind is it?" I ask

"What _kind_?" He laughs "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean! Come on, Robbie. I was just under the influence of some very powerful drugs, excuse me if I'm having a hard time finding the right words." I groan "I meant...is it a boy or a girl?"

"I don't know." He smirks "They took it to have some tests done, a nurse should be bringing it back soon though."

"Do you actually know though?"

"I do."

"You're killing me, Shapiro."

"Oh relax, look." He looks up towards the doorway "Here we go."

"Hi Mom, Hi Dad." A nurse greets us "I just need to check that your wristbands match."

"What?"

"Here, check mine." Robbie says getting up and extending his wrist to her "The three of us have wristbands with matching ID numbers on them. So they know they're giving us the right baby."

I look at my hands, and sure enough on my right wrist, there's a white wristband that reads 'Valentine, Caterina' followed by an ID number and a matching barcode.

When the nurse had identified that Robbie is in fact the baby's father, she pushes the plastic hospital crib over to my beside, then exits the room again.

I can't see much of the baby itself, but what I can see is the card taped to the outside of the crib that says 'Hi! My name is: Baby Girl Valentine'.

"It's a girl." I whisper "I had a girl."

"Yeah." Robbie smiles, picking the baby up "Do you want to hold her?"

"No." I shake my head "No, I can't."

"Why not?"

"I...I don't know how." I tell him "I'll break her."

"No you won't." He chuckles "Here, I'll show you how."

"Robbie I really don't-"

Before I can finish, the baby is in my arms, asleep and resting peacefully. And I panic.

I'm seventeen, about to start my second semester of my senior year of high school, and here I am, sitting in a hospital room, holding my daughter, who is now starting to fuss.

"No take her back!" I cry "She doesn't like me!"

"Of course she likes you!" Robbie assures me "You're her mommy! She's probably just hungry or something..."

"I'm scared." I admit, rocking the baby gently in attempt to console her "We don't know the first thing about being parents."

"We'll learn!" He assures me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders "And we're not alone either! We have our friends, your brother, I'm sure my mom will come around, and your mom will be back soon! She just went to run some errands. It will be okay, Cat. I promise."

"She doesn't even have a crib." I remind him "And they won't let us take her home if we don't have a car seat!"

"That's not an issue!" He tells me "I mean, it's Christmas Day, so I doubt anything will be open, but I promise you, first thing tomorrow morning, I'll go out and buy two car seats. One for your car and one for mine, okay?"

"That still only solves half the problem."

"I still have your old pac-n-play in the basement." My mother says, entering the room "We can set that up in your room and she can sleep there for a few nights until we figure something else out. Robbie, here's that book you wanted."

She pulls a paperback book out of her bag and hands it to him. I can't tell exactly what the title is, but I know it's a book of baby names.

"God I haven't even thought about that." I sniff, wiping a tear from my eye and looking down at the baby in my arms "I guess we really can't call you 'Baby Girl Valentine' for the rest of your life, now can we?"

"Do you have any ideas?" My mom asks us "Either of you."

"I never gave it any serious thought." I admit "I mean, I guess I've always loved the name Hazel, but she doesn't really look like a Hazel..."

"I like Renee." Robbie sighs "But I can't really see much of that in her either."

"Both would be beautiful middle names." My mom agrees

"Shall we start looking?" Robbie sighs, opening the book

"Might as well."

* * *

Robbie leaves around nine am to go home and take a nap, then eventually meet up with some family members in town for the holiday. Which is fine, because I want to sleep too, and my mom said she'd stay at the hospital with me for the day.

A a few nurses come in throughout the day and talk to me about various things. I learn how to change diapers, and swaddle Baby Girl up in a blanket, and how to hold her just right so her head is always supported. At one point, they have me try breast feeding too, but it makes me feel uncomfortable and awkward, so I doubt that will continue. Which means we'll have to buy baby formula, thank god Robbie and I both have jobs.

My mom has been attempting to get in touch with Lane to update him on the situation, because there's no way I'll be able to start the semester with everyone else at the beginning of January.

The least stressful part of the day comes at about 8:30, when Tori and Jade arrive.

"What are you guys doing here?" I ask, smiling

"We hit up the Walmart." Tori chuckles holding up a bag of baby clothes "It was the only place open that sold baby clothes. But we got everything pink!"

"No _you_ got everything pink." Jade corrects her "_I_ got the child some reasonably colored things to wear."

"She was very disappointed they didn't sell anything solid black." Tori laughs

"You guys." I grin as they set the bags down and sit on the foot of my bed "You didn't have to do that."

"What's the fun of having a friend with a baby if you can't spoil said baby?" Jade shrugs "Besides, we have jobs now, it's not like we don't have a little extra money laying around."

"Jobs _you_ convinced us to get." Tori reminds me

"Yeah so you'd have money in college." I laugh "Not so you could spoil my kid."

"Speaking of the little cutie..." She coos to the baby "Hi sweetie, you're adorable!"

"What's her name?" Jade asks

"Right now? Baby Girl Valentine."

"That's a _terrible_ name."

"I know." I chuckle "We're working on it."

"They started talking about names." My mom tells them as she flips through a magazine "But then they started arguing about godparents instead."

"We weren't arguing." I say "Well okay, we argued about her godfather but her godmother was easy."

"It's me." Tori says confidently "Isn't it?"

"No way it's totally me." Jade argues "I've known both of them longer."

"It's both of you." I laugh "We couldn't decide, so we picked two."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Cool!" They high five "Co-godmothers!"

"Yeah." I smile "We were too tired to argue over you two after we spent an hour arguing over Beck and Andre for godfather."

"Which one of them won?"

"Charlie won." I chuckle

"Well I guess that's fair enough."

"Hey!" Tori perks up "I have an idea! What if you named her Victoria Jade? After her godmothers?"

"Or Jade Victoria."

"No." I shake my head "We've already crossed both of those off our lists. Lydia and Charlotte too."

"Why Charlotte?"

"It's the feminine of Charles." I tell them "Charlie is already bouncing off the walls because he gets to be an uncle_ and_ a godfather, the last thing we need is him to blast off to the moon because we named her after him too."

"Well how much longer do you have to decide?"

"They're discharging me tomorrow afternoon." I sigh "If she doesn't have a name by then...well."

"Then you're screwed."

"Then we're screwed."


	24. Chapter 24

_Cat's POV_

"Audrey." I coo to the baby sleeping in my arms "How are you my little Audrey girl? It's perfect, I love it."

"I told you we'd figure it out." Robbie smiles from the floor "Does this look right?"

He spins the newly assembled car seat towards me so I can look. It's dark grey with white and light grey polka dots all over, and will be the one that stays in his car. The one he bought for me is black with white inside padding that has black and hot pink flowers all over it with hot pink accents. I've yet to actually see it because it's still in the box at my mom's house, but Robbie has shown me pictures.

"I think so." I shrug "Does _this_ look right?"

He gets up and walks over to my hospital bed, where I turn Audrey to face him. Today is the first day I've dressed her by myself without anyone's help. She's wearing a light pink onsie that says 'I love you cherry much' with a picture of two cartoon cherries on it, along with a pair of red pants with white polka dots.

"Are you seriously asking _me_ for infant fashion advice?" He raises an eyebrow "I cant exactly say that's my area of expertise."

"No I know her outfit looks fine." I laugh "But did I put it on right?"

"Is she screaming?"

"Well no..."

"Then it must be fine." He shrugs "Hey, what happened to her birth certificate?"

"It's right here." I tell him, reaching to grab it off my bedside table

_Audrey Renee Valentine_

_Sex: Female_

_5 lbs. 7 oz._

_17 inches long_

_Born: December 24th, 2013_

_11:47 P.M._

_To Parents:_

_Caterina Valentine and Robert Shapiro_

_Los Angeles, California_

"Wouldn't want to lose that!" He says, taking it from me and sticking it in his bag "If you can get her ready on your own, I'll go get the car."

"If you can help me stand up, and then put the car seat on the bed, I'll be able to manage." I tell him "It's still a little hard to bend down."

"No problem." He smiles, approaching me and helping me to my feet "Okay, Cat's good to go, here's the car seat...I'll go get the car."

"Take the bags with you please!"

"Take the bags!" He repeats, reaching down to pick up my duffle and his backpack "Alright, I'll meet you at the doors."

My mom had gone home about an hour ago to retrieve Prince from the neighbors and to start looking for my old pac-n-play. She had taken the gifts from Tori and Jade home along with a newly acquired bag of outfits from Lydia. Most of which said 'Daddy's Princess' or something of the sort, but I can't complain. Clothes are clothes.

"Okay baby girl." I whisper to Audrey as I place her in her car seat "I'm just going to apologize in advance because I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, and neither does Rob- I mean Daddy. So just bear with us for a few weeks, okay? I love you so, so much."

I fasten the car seat straps across her chest and gently slide a white hat onto her head.

For a moment I look down at her, sleeping peacefully in her car seat, my heart swelling and overflowing with love. I can't even begin to imagine how I ever could have given her up, and I'm so happy I didn't. This wasn't the easiest path I could've chosen, but I'm so incredibly happy it's the one I did.

I pull the handle up on Audrey's car seat and lift it carefully off the bed, mindful not to wake her, and make my way out to the elevator and out to the front doors where I see Robbie's familiar Toyota Highlander idling at the curb.

When he sees us, he jumps out of the drivers seat and helps me fasten the car seat into the back, then helps me in so I can sit next to Audrey, before returning to the drivers seat again.

"Ready?" He asks, making eye contact with me in the rear view mirror

"No." I sigh "But it's not like we really have any other options. Let's go home."

"Sounds good to me."

* * *

Robbie carries the car seat into the house for me, and the minute we step through the door, Prince begins barking at us.

"Prince!" I exclaim as he runs towards me "Hey buddy! I missed you!"

"I hate to break it to you," my mom laughs, coming around the corner "but he's taken a liking to sleeping in your bed."

"Oh that's okay!" I smile, reaching down to pet him, mindful of my staples "We can make up for the time we've lost the past few days."

"All her clothes are upstairs on your bed." My mom tells me "Along with the pac-n-play. I was able to get it all set up for you."

"Thanks." I sigh "Come on, Robbie. Let's head upstairs, I want to get us both unpacked."

"Okay." He nods and follows me up the stairs.

I walk slowly, but eventually I get there. I cannot stress enough how wonderful my bed looks when I reach it, but there's no time for napping right now. I have a baby who will be awake soon, and needs my attention.

As promised, the bags of baby clothes from our friends are sitting on my bed, the pac-n-play is set up in the middle of the room, what my mother didn't mention however, is the diaper bag sitting on my desk. It's black with white polka dots and hot pink stitching. There's a tag attached to it that says 'To: Cat (&amp; Audrey), Love: Mom (or technically Grandma).

"My mom got me a diaper bag." I say to Robbie, turning around to show him

"Stylin'." He chuckles, setting the car seat down on the floor "Hey there kiddo, welcome home."

"Is she still asleep?" I ask as he bends down to pick her up

"Yup." He responds "Like an angel."

"She'll be awake soon." I predict "I fed her at around noonish, so she'll probably be looking for more."

"So how is this going to work?" He asks, rocking Audrey side to side as he walks around the room "Is she going to stay here during the week, and then with me on weekends? Or what...?"

"I was thinking she'd stay here a majority of the time, but you can come and go as you please, like you can visit whenever you want." I explain "But I know my dad will want to start seeing me again, so I figured on weekends I'm with him, she could stay with you. Since he obviously wasn't very supportive, and honestly I'm not sure I want her around him."

"That sounds perfect." He grins "But expect me to be here a lot, because this little cutie has me wrapped around her finger."

"And she's not even a week old." I smirk

"She's not even 48 hours old." He adds "Do you want me to stay over tonight? I could sleep on an air mattress or something on the floor. Just to help you get through the first night."

"If my mom's okay with it, that'd be great." I laugh

"Okay, I know we agreed on bright blue, but I think this is a _little_ bright!" A voice from down the hallway says

Robbie and I look at each other confused for a moment, before he hands Audrey off to me and offers to go check things out.

The minute he places Audrey in my arms and leaves the room, she begins to fuss.

"Shit!" I mutter "Don't worry baby girl, Mommy's on it."

I walk over to my bed where my duffle bag is and after unzipping it, pull out a package of plastic premade formula bottles the hospital gave us. I shake it up, uncap it, and place the bottle in her mouth, and she quiets down instantly.

"Maybe I'm not as bad at this as I thought I was..." I whisper to myself, smiling down at the baby I still can't believe is mine.

"Cat." Robbie appears at the doorway "Come check this out."

I follow him down the hallway to Charlie's old bedroom, that used to be dark gray, covered in posters, and full of boxes of his crap that he never moved out. However, now it's bright, almost electric, blue, and full of what appears to be furniture boxes.

"What on earth..." I gasp, entering the room "Charlie!"

"Surprise!" He exclaims "Welcome to _Project: Build Audrey A Nursery_!"

"But this is _your_ old room, you didn't have to do this."

"Exactly, it's _my_ room. So if I want to turn it into a nursery for my beautiful, _beautiful _niece..." He leans down and kisses her forehead "Then I will!"

"Just picture this!" Tuck tells me "This wall color, with chocolate brown furniture, and light blue, light pink, brown, and soft yellow accents. Girly enough, but not enough you want to puke."

I say nothing, but I can feel tears starting to form in my eyes.

"Hey don't cry." Robbie tells me "They were just trying to do something nice for us!"

"I'm crying because I'm happy." I laugh through the tears "Seriously, I don't know what I'd do without you guys."


	25. Chapter 25

_Cat's POV _

"Let's see..." I sigh "We still need baby monitors, a swing..."

"A stroller." Robbie adds "And eventually we need to get the second car seat installed in your car."

"You haven't installed the second car seat yet?" Tori asks, sounding slightly shocked

"When would I have had the time?" I ask her "I came home, fed the baby, tried to take a nap, and then you guys showed up."

Audrey had fallen back to sleep around 2:30, and Robbie had offered to help Charlie and Tuck with the nursery, so I had decided to take advantage of the situation and try to take a nap myself. It was difficult to fall asleep, because usually I lay on my stomach or on my side, but because of the incision from my C-Section, I have to sleep on my back. I slept for maybe an hour before Tori, Jade, Andre, Beck, and Lydia showed up. They've been here for a majority of the night.

"You know, I still can't tell which one of you she looks more like." Andre says, making goody faces at Audrey, who rests calmly, for now, in Lydia's arms.

"What do you mean _still_?" I chuckle "She's _literally_ two days old."

"I can't believe they let you come home that early."

"Me either." I sigh "But they're technically only supposed to let you stay for two days, and then discharge you on the third. So because she was born before midnight, Christmas Eve technically counted as the first day. Don't get me wrong, it's good to be home, but..."

"But you wanted an extra day." Lydia nods "Understandable."

"But going back to the who does she look more like thing..." Jade interrupts, leaning over to look at Audrey "How did she get blue eyes? Both of yours are brown, and brown is dominate, right?"

"All babies have blue eyes when they're born." I explain, stifling a yawn "Their true pigments aren't fully developed until they're about eight or nine months old."

"So they'll probably turn brown." Beck tells her

"They probably will." I shrug "But I think we're both carriers of the recessive blue. My mom has blue eyes, and your dad did too right?"

Robbie nods.

"So yeah, there's a 25% chance she could have blue eyes."

"Somebody payed attention in biology class." Andre chuckles as Lydia passes Audrey to him, causing her to start fussing "Oh come on kid, my turn _just_ started!"

"She's probably getting cranky." I sigh as Robbie takes her from him, then brings her to wear I sit in the recliner "It's been a big day."

My incision is still very delicate. I sneezed earlier and cried for fifteen minutes because it hurt the wound so bad. So I've been very content to just sit in the recliner in my living room all evening while our friends pass the baby back and forth.

"You're okay." I whisper, rocking Audrey gently "When was the last time she had a diaper change?"

"When she woke up from her nap." Robbie tells me "I think."

"Alright." I sigh, starting to stand up "We'll be upstairs. It should only take a few minutes."

"Actually we're gonna get going." Beck tells me "It's been a long day for you guys, and you're probably going to want to get some rest."

"Oh." I say "Okay."

"Call me if you need anything, okay?" Tori says as she passes me "I'm more than ready to step in on full time auntie duty anytime you need."

"Yeah same here." Jade adds "Even if it's the middle of the night."

"Thanks guys." I smile "Depending on how tonight goes, I might just take you up on that."

Our friends say their goodbyes to both Robbie and I, as well as Audrey. Lydia lingers back, probably because she's hoping she'll get to say goodbye to Robbie privately. Not that I can blame her, they haven't seen that much of each other the past few days.

"Here I'll help you." Robbie offers, grabbing my arm to support me as I make my way upstairs

"What happened to Lydia?" I whisper as we slowly make our way up the stairs

"She's waiting downstairs." He chuckles "I'm going to go say goodbye after I help you get upstairs."

"Good. If you had abandoned her in my kitchen I would've slapped you."

When we reach the top of the stairs, I continue on towards my bedroom while he turns around to go back downstairs.

"Hey." I call after him

"What's up?"

"My mom is around here somewhere." I warn "Don't let her catch the two of you making out. I mean, she likes you both but..."

"But not that much." He winks "Don't worry, we'll be good."

I can only roll my eyes as he turns around to continue downstairs.

"Alright, baby girl." I sigh as I make my way to my bedroom "Let's get you a clean diaper, some pajamas, and then, if it's okay with you, I think we should both go to bed."

She doesn't answer, not that I expect her to or anything, but continues to whimper softly. The noise only stops once I've removed her outfit and put a fresh diaper on her. Then she's left laying on her back, on my bed, staring up at me with the two big blue eyes we had just discussed downstairs.

"Hi there." I giggle "I'm Mommy. I know I've told you that a lot the past few days, but I'm going to keep reminding you until it's cemented in _both_ our heads. Now let's see...which pajamas should you wear tonight?"

I reach down and grab one of the gift bags of clothes she had gotten from our friends. Yes, I'll admit I've yet to go through them and put the clothes away, but it's not like there's really anywhere to put them 'away'. There's a dresser in her nursery, but it's yet to be assembled, and she won't be sleeping in there for a few nights anyway. At least until the paint fumes disappear.

The first pair of pajamas I find is a pair of lavender ones that say 'Daddy's Sweetheart' across the chest, I know they came from Lydia. I don't feel like looking for another pair, so I rip the tag off and begin dressing her.

"I'll tell you what, baby girl..." I coo "As soon as I start feeling better, we'll go to the store and get you some Mommy's Girl stuff, okay? Don't get me wrong, Robb- I mean, Daddy is great and everything, but he shouldn't get _all_ the credit, now should he?"

"Hey now." Robbie laughs, entering the room "I think I'm pretty cool."

"That doesn't mean she should have your name plastered across her forehead all the time." I tease "You're back quicker than I thought you would be."

"I wasn't gonna be _that_ jerk." He rolls his eyes "Can I help you out with anything?"

"Can you feed her?" I ask "I was kinda hoping to sneak a quick shower in."

"Of course!" He exclaims, picking Audrey up "I'd love to!"

"Thanks." I sigh, standing up and grabbing a pair of pajamas out of my dresser "If she falls asleep while you're feeding her, and she probably will, can you blow the air mattress up in another room? I'm afraid the pump will make too much noise and wake her up."

"Sure thing." He nods "Enjoy your shower."

"Thanks I will."

I move to my bathroom down the hall and close the door behind me, turning on the light and the fan. I'm looking forward to smelling like something other than hospital and regurgitated baby formula.

* * *

"Audrey, baby. Please stop crying, _please_." I beg "We're trying, I promise."

"Maybe we should get your mom..." Robbie suggests "I mean, we've tried everything."

He's right, we've changed her diaper twice, and she refuses to take a bottle, so she can't be hungry. But she's still crying, she has been for the past twenty minutes.

"No, I told you the first night I wanted to do it myself." I insist "If we were older we wouldn't have anyone around to help us! So why should this be any different?"

"Because we're not older, we're kids!" He argues back "We're not supposed to be able to do it on our own!"

"Okay yelling at each other isn't going to solve any issues!"

"You're right." He takes a deep breath "Alright let me think...when you were pregnant, you said you were able to get her to settle down at night by just talking to her, right?"

"Well yeah." I shrug "But I've been talking to her since she started crying and it hasn't helped at all..."

"Try changing your tone." He suggests

I glare at him.

"I'm serious!" He exclaims "You sound so hostile right now."

"I _feel_ hostile right now."

"Just try to calm down." He tells me "Or, I dunno...try singing, that seems to always work for you."

Honestly, I think he's being ridiculous. But when I look down at the red-faced, screaming, squirming, little human being in my arms, I know I don't have many other options.

_"Now I'm FourFiveSeconds from wildin'..._" I sigh, beginning to sing "_And we got three more days 'til Friday...I'm just tryna make it back home by Monday mornin', I swear I wish somebody would tell me, Ooh, that's all I want.._."

In just the few seconds I sang, Audrey's screams turned into quiet whimpers. Her face is still scrunched up and red, but she's slightly more relaxed, which allows Robbie and I to breathe a sigh of relief as well. I close my eyes and continue on humming to her as I gently sway back and forth.

It's been a long night, but it's not even _close_ to over.


	26. Chapter 26

_Cat's POV _

"Well I don't want you to feel abandoned." Robbie sighs "I mean, we'll all be out having a good time and you'll be stuck at home by yourself."

"Robbie. I don't _want_ to go out and have a good time." I tell him, shifting Audrey in my arms "I'm exhausted. I want to stay home and _sleep_."

"But it's New Year's Eve!" He exclaims

"So?" I laugh "I have a newborn! I don't feel like going out and partying tonight! I just want to stay in and relax, and sleep when she sleeps!"

"I doubt you'll still be saying _that_ in a week." My mom chuckles as she passes through the kitchen

"Look." I continue "You have been here _every_ night since she's been born. And I appreciate that _so_ much, I _really_ do. But you can't be here every night once school starts again on Monday, and we're both going to need time adjusting to that. So we might as well start now."

"You're right..." He sighs "But are you sure you'll be okay if we all go out tonight?"

"_Yes_! I promise I will be." I assure him "Take Lydia out, have a good time. Okay?"

"Alright." He laughs "Can I still hang out here for the day?"

"Sure." I shrug, as my phone starts to vibrate on the counter "Here, take her for me?"

"Hi Audrey!" He coos as I hand her to him "How's Daddy's little girl, huh? How are you?"

"Hello?" I answer the phone, rolling my eyes at Robbie as I do so

"Cat!" Mary greets me "How are you?"

She had sent me on maternity leave when semester break started, just in case, but I haven't talked to her since, which means she has no idea we kept the baby.

"Uhhhh..." I hesitate, walking out of the kitchen and into the front room "I'm okay. A little tired, a little sore. I had to have a C-Section..."

"Oh no." She winces "That's the _worst_! Are you recovering okay?"

"As well as I guess you can..." I shrug "I just got my staples out a few days ago, but I'm still sensitive."

"As can be expected." She chuckles "So, I'm assuming you and the boy were eventually able to decide on a couple then?"

"Yes and no."

"Oh?"

"We decided, more like I decided and he agreed, at the last minute we wanted to keep her." I explain "It's been a crazy week."

"Oh Cat!" She exclaims "That's wonderful, sweetheart! Tell me everything! Boy or girl?"

"A girl." I smile "Audrey Renee, born on Christmas Eve."

"A Christmas baby!" She squeals "How precious!"

"Yeah..." I chuckle "Yeah she is...but I'm guessing you didn't call just to catch up with me?"

"Well no." She admits "I was actually calling to talk to you about when you would be coming back to work, but I'm guessing with a C-Section and a newborn, you'll be off a little longer than we anticipated..."

"Yeah, probably." I sigh "I won't be back in school until January 20th..."

My mom wanted me out of school longer, but second semester senior year isn't exactly the time to be missing school. So after talking to Lane, we compromised on the 20th, when Audrey will be almost a month old.

"Well then let's see..." I hear the ruffling of papers, so I assume she's sitting in her office in the back of the store "Let's bring you back to work on January 27th...does that sound fair to you?"

"That sounds _more_ than fair." I gasp "Are you sure you don't want me back sooner? I can come back the same day I start back at school!"

"Cat the wonderful thing about not having employees that normally need maternity leave is that I can be generous when the rare occasion does arise." She tells me "We're not a major corporation, we're a small business. I'm not a robot CEO, I'm a human. I understand leaving your baby for the first time isn't going to be easy, let alone leaving your baby to go back to high school. Don't worry about the extra week, your job will still be here when you get back."

"Thank you so much, Mary."

"Now I can only offer you this on one condition." She says

"As soon as you feel up to leaving the house, you have to bring the little angel down here to visit."

"Of course." I smile

* * *

"5...4...3...2...1..." The thousands of people chant from Times Square as the LED studded light ball makes it's way down the pole it's attached to "HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

"Yayyyy." I say sarcastically, rocking Audrey back and forth gently

My mom and I have spent the evening watching Dick Clark's rockin New Year's Eve party on TV. It's just now midnight in New York, even though it's only 9:00 here in Los Angeles.

"Only three more hours." My mom laughs "Then you can actually celebrate."

"Actually." I yawn, standing up from the chair I has been sitting in "I think we're going to head up to bed."

"But it's not midnight yet!"

"It's midnight somewhere." I shrug "Besides, she'll probably be awake at midnight anyway."

"You're just gonna leave me here to celebrate by myself?" She chuckles

"Prince is here." I nod towards the dog curled up on the couch next to her "He's loads of fun."

"He's not the same."

"Whatever Mom..." I say, turning to leave the room "I'm exhausted, I'm going to bed."

"Hey." She stops me "Come say goodnight."

I walk back over to her and bend down slightly, allowing her to kiss my cheek, and then Audrey's forehead.

"Goodnight, ladies." She smiles

"Goodnight Mom."

Once upstairs, I lay Audrey down in the pac-n-play in my room. Hopefully, this is the last night she'll be sleeping in here with me. Charlie said he would come by tomorrow afternoon and finish assembling the rest of the furniture in her nursery, including the crib, and then she'll be all set to move in.

When I'm sure that she's situated, asleep, and not going to wake up again, I move to my dresser to pull out a fresh t-shirt to sleep in.

I guess you could say my bump has 'flattened out'. I still look like I could be pregnant, just not _as_ pregnant, the only difference now being the purple scar just under my waistline. My goal is to have all my baby weight lost by the time Audrey is two months old, which I think is more than manageable. All I need is the clearance from my doctor to start exercising, which will hopefully be soon.

As I re-enter my bedroom from throwing my dirty shirt in the hamper, Audrey begins stirring slightly. Praying she's not fully awake, I creep over to the pac-n-play to check on her. She's still asleep, eyes closed, arm waving around aimlessly in space, she's dreaming.

"Goodnight, baby girl." I whisper, leaning down and kissing her forehead "And Happy New Year."


	27. Chapter 27

**To answer _JandreIsPerfection_'s question left on the last chapter, I'm not exactly sure how many chapters this story is going to be. However, I'm planning right now to take it all the way up to Audrey's first birthday, maybe a little further past that. We'll see, it's kinda up in the air right now. **

* * *

_Cat's POV _

"Hey." My mom pokes her head into Audrey's nursery "I'm getting ready to leave, just thought I'd let you know."

"I'll be down in a minute." I tell her "She's just about finished."

She nods and exits the room again just as Audrey finishes the bottle I had been feeding her.

"Okay, baby girl." I whisper, as I stand up to put her back in her crib "Feel free to sleep for as long as you want to, okay? It's our first day alone together and I'm still not one hundred percent sure what I'm doing..."

I lean down and kiss her forehead before sneaking out of the room, closing the door gently behind me, and heading downstairs to say goodbye to my mom.

"Feel free to call me if you need anything." She says as I enter the kitchen "I'm only a short drive away."

"I'll keep that in mind." I tell her "But hopefully we'll be okay."

Ever since Charlie and I were little, my mom has always taken our Christmas and Spring breaks off from work so there was someone around to look after us. As we got older, she kept the tradition up just so she could spend a little extra time with us. This year, I was extremely thankful she did.

"I'm honestly surprised you're up this early." She chuckles, checking her watch "Then again, I guess this is the time you usually get up for school, isn't it?"

"I was up because she was hungry." I shrug "I'm sure she'll need a diaper change in about an hour anyway, so there's really no point in going back to bed."

"Try to sneak a nap in at some point, okay?"

"That's the plan."

"Good." She smiles "You're going to hang around here today, right? You're not taking her out anywhere?"

"No." I shake my head "I mean, I might take her outside and sit on the porch swing for a while, but that's about as 'out' as I'm willing to take her by myself right now."

"By yourself..." She repeats "What about when your friends are done with school? Any plans then?"

"We're probably going to go to the store with Jade and get the rest of everything she still needs."

"What does she need?"

"A swing, a stroller, and baby monitors." I tell her "And maybe some new outfits."

"And just where are you going to get the money for that?" She asks

"I've had a job for a year and a half now..." I sigh "I have money."

"Alright. Just be careful if you do end up taking her out somewhere, okay? She's still little, her immune system is weak." She warns "And if you buy her more outfits, don't buy just newborn sizes, okay? She might be little now, but she won't stay little forever, she'll start out growing her clothes sooner than you expect her to."

"I'll keep that in mind." I yawn

"Okay." She smiles walking over to me and kissing my cheek "Have a good day."

"You too."

* * *

"Okay, Audrey..." I whisper as I cradle her to my chest "Bear with me, alright?"

Using my free hand, I line the bottom of our empty kitchen sink with a towel and turn the water on, allowing it to fill with about three inches of lukewarm water. It's bath time.

The past two weeks, I've been giving her sponge baths on her changing table. But now that her umbilical cord stump has fallen off, I'm supposed to start giving her 'tub baths' which can either be in a real bath tub, or in the sink like we're going to attempt now.

Before I undress her, I make sure I have everything I need on the counter next to me.

Towel? _Check_. New diaper? _Check_. Outfit? _Check_. Baby soap? _Check_. Washcloth? _Check_.

I spread the towel out on the counter and lay her down on top of it, undressing her completely.

"Here goes nothing." I sigh as I lower her down into the water, careful to keep one arm around her so she's supported at all times

Audrey flinches slightly as I start to brush water up around her to get her accustomed to it, but seems to adjust to it quickly, looking back up at me again with her big blue eyes and mellow expression she seems to always have on her face.

"Hi baby girl!" I coo as I wash her body with one of the washcloths "Look at you! You're taking a real bath!"

She waves her arm around like all babies do, throwing a bit of water back at me, but not much.

"Careful there, baby." I smile "It's not Mommy's turn to take a bath just yet. I'll do that after you go to bed tonight."

I finish washing her then pick her up, mindful of the fact she's wet and slippery, and lay her on the towel, swaddling her up like I would if the towel was a blanket.

"Hey." I giggle, looking down at the baby in my arms "We did it!"

I have my daughter a bath, _by myself._

Maybe I actually _can_ do this.

* * *

"You brought Beck?" I chuckle as I walk across the Babies R Us parking lot to meet Jade

"He was bored." She shrugs "And he didn't have to work so I invited him along. I didn't actually think he'd say yes."

"I'm standing right here!" He exclaims

"It's fine." I chuckle "Now he can carry the heavy stuff to the car for us."

"Yay." Beck rolls his eyes as we enter the store

"So what was it like driving with a baby in the car?" Jade asks as she pulls one of the car seat friendly shopping carts out of the rack

"I had a white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel the entire time." I admit as I place Audrey's car seat in the cart "It was so terrifying."

"It'll get better." She assures me "Or at least it should."

This time it's my turn to roll my eyes.

We go to find baby monitors first. Which was honestly way harder than I expected it to be. There's monitors that track movement, or have cameras attached to them so you can see the baby at all times. Really, I just want to be able to hear her when she cries, so I end up picking just a basic audio monitor, with a monitor for her room, one for mine, and one that I can carry with me around the house.

The swing is grey, pretty basic. But at least I know it will match her room.

"Now all we need is a stroller?" Jade asks "Right?"

"Right?" I nod as we turn down the isle "God there's so many..."

"At least you have you have your pick of colors." Jade shrugs

"I was thinking I should get a jogging stroller." I tell her "That way I can take her running with me when I get to that point, and they're supposed to be good on all kinds of terrain, so I could take it to the beach, or you know, wherever."

"Hey guys!" Beck calls from the end of the isle "Check this out!"

He's pushing himself around in one of the display strollers like it's a wheelchair.

"Jesus Christ, Beck!" Jade exclaims "Get out of that thing before you break it and we have to buy it!"

"You're no fun!" He pouts, climbing out of the stroller and returning it to where he found it

"Anyway..." I sigh "I don't know, you know? They're so expensive."

"Well what about that one." Jade points to a black jogging stroller with blue accents the same color as Audrey's room "That one's only $120!"

"Looks like it'll have to do." I shrug, taking the slip from the display to show to the cashier so he can retrieve it for us.

I begin pushing the cart out of the isle and towards the check out, Jade walking next to me. Beck eventually jogs up behind us and begins making goofy faces at Audrey over my shoulder.

"Is Uncle Beck being silly?" I coo to the baby "Hang on a second, guys."

I stop pushing the cart and walk into the area with racks and racks of baby clothes.

"What are you doing?" Jade asks "You've already spent close to $300!"

"I know." I sigh looking through the racks and selecting an outfit

It's a light pink bodysuit that says 'Mommy's Girl' across the chest in white letters, a pair of grey leggings, a matching hat and a pair of matching socks.

"But I promised her that the first time we went our shopping together I would get her an outfit like this, so that's what I'm gonna do."


	28. Chapter 28

Cat's POV

"Cat?" Robbie calls to me

He had taken Audrey into the living room to play, how one 'plays' with a newborn I'm not exactly sure, but at least now I can focus on washing the baby bottles that have been piling up in the sink all day. We don't have many, so this has almost become part of my daily routine now.

"Yes?" I singsong back to him

"When was the last time she ate?"

"About 20 minutes before you got here." I answer "Why?"

"Because she's crying!" He responds "And her diaper isn't wet...I don't know what else could be wrong!"

Sighing, I dry my hands on a towel and go to see what's the matter.

"Well yeah, you took her blanket." I chuckle as I enter the room "That would piss me off too."

I walk over and pick up the hot pink, lime green, and white polka dotted receiving blanket off the floor near Robbie's feet.

"Why is the blanket such a big deal?" He asks "She's fully clothed! It's not like she's cold!"

"Because she feels safer when she's all swaddled up in a blanket." I coo, taking the baby from him and sitting down on the floor "She's only a few weeks old, Robbie."

I lay the blanket down on the floor in front of me, spreading it out as best as I can with the one hand that isn't being used to support Audrey, then place her down on top, pulling the corners up and tucking them around her shoulders so she's properly swaddled.

"There." I smile "That's better, isn't it baby girl?"

"You're pretty good at this." He chuckles

"Yeah well..." I shrug "When you're around it 24/7... I guess you pick it up pretty quickly."

We both laugh as I hand her back to him.

"So what do you guys do all day?" He asks "I mean, babies don't really do much, do they?"

"Well..." I laugh "She's a lot of work...I mean, she eats and poops a lot...but when she's not doing _that_ we cuddle, or she sleeps."

"What do you do when she sleeps?"

"Sleep." I smirk "Or do my homework. We sat outside on a blanket and read after lunch today. Well, I read, she slept."

The school worked out a way for me to access my assignments online, so I can still get them done on time with everyone else, or at least I should be able to.

"She liked being outside?" He chuckles "That's my girl."

"Shut up, you're a computer geek." I tease him "But she does like being outside, at least it doesn't bother her. I just got her a new stroller the other day, so we'll see how she reacts to that."

"Let's go right now!" He offers "It's not that cold yet."

"It's only fifty degrees..." I remind him, which is cold for California "Besides, I haven't put it together yet..."

"I'll do it right now!" He stands up and hands Audrey to me "Here, just give me twenty minutes."

* * *

35 minutes later, Audrey is situated and comfortable in the stroller, and Robbie and I are taking turns pushing her as we walk around the neighborhood.

"So how are things with you and Lydia?" I ask as we walk "I mean, I'm sure Aud has made things slightly more difficult."

"We're okay." He shrugs "I mean, it's not like we see each other any less."

"You spend all your free time with me and Audrey."

"Only on days when I work." He reminds me "Wednesdays and weekends are still the same."

On days when he works, he'll go home for dinner, then come over to see the baby for an hour or two, until she falls asleep for the night. That's Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. On Wednesdays and weekends, he still hangs out with Lydia like he did before Audrey was born.

"Has she heard back from that college she was talking about at your birthday?"

"University of Colorado?" He clarifies, I nod "Yeah, they accepted her. But she visited the campus, looked around a bit, decided it wasn't for her."

"So now where is she looking?"

"Grand Canyon University." He tells me "Down in Phoenix? She wants to study Performing Arts and Production."

"I know where it is." I say "That would be good if you stick with University of Arizona, you'd be close to her."

"But I'd be really far from you guys." He sighs

"We'll be fine." I assure him "Don't let us hold you back."'

"She's my daughter though." He frowns "I'd feel so guilty if I just walked out on her you know...I mean, then I'd be like..."

"Like your Dad..." I finish for him "You're not you're not going to turn into your father, Robbie."

"If I _abandon_ her I will!"

"Robbie." I stop walking "Look at me. You wouldn't be _abandoning_ her. You'd be going off and getting an education so you can get a job and in the end, make her life better. That's the difference between you and your dad, okay? You'll _come back_ to her eventually."

"You're gonna make some guy really happy some day, you know that?" He smirks

"Okay." I roll my eyes and continue pushing the stroller "I tried to be supportive!"

"No I know." He chuckles, jogging to catch up "I appreciate it."

"Mhm sure."

"I do!" He exclaims "I don't have to commit for a few weeks still, but I'm glad you'd be supportive of me going...that far away."

"Well we're trying to get life back to as close to normal as we can, right?"

"Right." He agrees "What about you? What are your plans for school?"

"Don't even get me started." I groan "I mean, I applied to Juilliard, but obviously I'm not going there now so-"

"Why not?" He cuts me off

"Uh, hello?" I nod towards Audrey, asleep in the stroller "You can't raise a baby in New York City. I mean, you can, but not when you're 18 and broke. It's just not logical. I'll probably end up at LACC."

"LACC?"

"Los Angeles Community College." I clarify "I still get an education, I don't have to uproot Audrey at one of the most crucial stages in her development, I'm sure my dad will appreciate the low tuition...god my dad."

"Hey, don't get worked up over him." He sighs "He's not worth it."

"He wanted this whole thing to just go away after the baby was born." I remind him "What is he going to do when he finds out we kept her?"

"He doesn't know yet?" Robbie asks

"Well..." I hesitate, I don't actually know if he does or not "I'm sure Charlie or my mom has told him by now...I just...I'm afraid of his reaction."

"Everybody who meets Audrey falls in love with her." He smiles "I'm sure your dad will be the same way. Especially since she's his first granddaughter."

"Well at least I know you're half right on that one." I smirk

"What do you mean?"

"Everybody loves Audrey." I laugh "She's just so cute."

"Well she gets it from her mom that's for sure. Her dad is fugly."

"It's funny because you're the one in the secure relationship."

"You'll find someone, I know you will."


	29. Chapter 29

**_Hi guys! I'm so sorry I forgot to update last night, it has been an extremely interesting past 12 hours. But here's the new chapter! It will be the last update for about a week or so because I'm going on vacation and won't have the ability to update! I'm really sorry!_**

* * *

_Cat's POV _

"God she's so tiny." Jade sighs as she rocks Audrey back and forth in the rocking chair

Her, Tori and I are all in the baby's nursery. It's Friday night, and it's pouring rain and thundering outside.

"You say that every time you hold her." I chuckle "It's not like it's a new development or anything."

"I'm going to keep saying it until it's not true anymore." She laughs "Seriously though, I have _textbooks_ bigger than her."

"Don't even get me started on textbooks." I groan

"What's wrong with textbooks?" Tori asks "I mean, I know they suck because school, but you're not even technically in school right now."

"Exactly." I tell her, standing up and walking over to the changing table "But look at this!"

I hold up my Advanced Drama and Theater Studies textbook.

"I didn't even know that class _had_ a textbook." Jade admits "Where did you get that?"

"And why is it on the changing table?"

"Sikowitz sent it home with Robbie." I explain "It's 1200 pages of just pure text. No pictures, no diagrams, no anything! Just white pages, with black text, and blue headings. The most boring read, I think, in the _history_ of textbooks."

"Well why do you have it?"

"And why was it on the changing table?" Tori repeats

"Because Sikowitz didn't have any other way to get the curriculum to me." I sigh "And it's on the changing table because I was reading it in here while she was napping and it never got moved."

"At least now you can get ahead if you want to?" Tori shrugs

"I'm already ahead." I tell her "Next week you're learning about the characterization of emotional appeals."

"Great." Jade rolls her eyes "That sounds incredibly exciting."

"I'm sure Sikowitz will make it fun." I assure them "I mean, it's not bad material, I just miss the interactive lectures, you know? It's no fun just _reading_ about it."

"You don't have that much longer..." Jade reminds me "You're back in like what, a week?"

"Not this coming Monday, but the following one, yes." I tell her "I don't wanna go back."

"You'll be fine."

"But now everybody knows me as 'the girl who had a baby', do you know how much that is going to suck?" I exclaim "And I'll have to be away from Audrey like, all day."

"Where is she going during the day?" Tori asks "While you and Robbie are at school?"

"Still to be determined..." I sigh "Let's talk about something else, please. Somebody change the subject."

"Alright..." Tori thinks for a moment "Oh! I've got one. Where did Audrey come from?"

"Well you see Tori," Jade begins "When a man and a women lov-"

"Not what I meant." Tori cuts her off "I meant the name. I mean, what happened to the whole 'if I ever have a daughter her name will be Hazel' thing?"

"Look at her." I laugh "Does she look like a Hazel?"

"No she looks like an Audrey..." Jade says, confused "But only because that's all I've ever known her as..."

"Breakfast at Tiffany's was on one of the movie channels when I was in the hospital..." I admit "I saw Audrey Hepburn on the screen, then I looked at her, and I knew it was her name. I just knew."

"Mommy's intuition?"

"Shut up." I roll my eyes, laughing "It's a pretty name. Cute when she's little, mature when she's older."

"Agreed." Jade nods "And I gotta admit, Audrey Renee is a beautiful name."

"Robbie came up with Renee." I tell them "Apparently it was his grandmother's name."

"It's French isn't it?"

"Yeah." I nod "I think it means 'rebirth' or something...I don't know, it's pretty."

"Jade can it be my turn now?" Tori begs "Please, you've had her for like an hour!"

"Fine." Jade rolls her eyes, standing up and handing Audrey off to her "But I get her back in another hour!"

"Keep fighting over her and nobody gets her." I chuckle "I'll take her for myself."

"Oh stop." Tori teases me "You get her 24/7."

"I know." I smile

"Hey...um...I..." Jade hesitates "I have another question."

"Okay?" I give her a questioning look "What's up?"

"Why is she Valentine?" She asks "Like instead of Shapiro or Valentine-Shapiro."

"Honestly?" I sigh "At the hospital, they identify the baby under it's mom's last name unless they're told to do otherwise, so that's what they did when she was born. Especially because I was unconscious and Robbie wasn't allowed in. But other than that...I don't know...we never actually talked about it. I guess it's just safer this way."

"Safer how?"

"Look guys, Robbie and I aren't together." I remind them "Seriously, he's my best friend, and while I love him, I don't love him like that, that's weird to think about, even if we do have a baby together. And honestly, if he and Lydia make it through their first semester of college, I wouldn't be surprised if they end up married. It's just...I don't know, it makes sense in my head, it's just hard to explain."

* * *

The next morning, I'm sitting on a blanket spread out on the nursery floor next to Audrey as she lays on her back, staring up at her surroundings.

"Hi, Baby Girl." I say to her

A smile spreads across her face as she kicks a leg out and waves an arm around.

"Hey look at you..." I coo "You're smiling! You've never smiled before. I'm sure Daddy will be all over that when he visits you later."

There's a knock at the door, it's my mom.

"Hey." She sighs "You have a visitor..."

"Really?" I raise an eyebrow "Who?"

It's 10:00 on a Saturday morning, all my friends are either working or still asleep.

"Caterina." My father greets me as he steps through the doorway

"Oh no." I shake my head, scooping Audrey up in my arms "I don't want to talk to you."

"I just want to talk..." He sighs "Please, can we do that? As two adults?"

"I'm seventeen." I remind him

"With a baby." He says "That makes you an adult, will you sit down, please?"

I roll my eyes, sitting down in the rocking chair in the corner of the room, as far away from him as possible.

We're both quiet, neither one of us wanting to be the one to break the silence.

"Chelsea misses you." He finally says, leaning against the wall

"Really now?" I respond as Audrey whimpers quietly

I rest my hand lightly on her chest, letting her play with my fingers and suck on them. She quiets down.

"Really." He nods "Look, Caterina...based on our lack of communication over the last nine months, I know I'm not your favorite person on the planet right now but-"

"Dad just admit it." I scoff "You were embarrassed that I got pregnant, so you thought it would be best to avoid me until everything went away and cleared up. But it's not going away now and you don't know what to do."

"I can't exactly say I've ever been in this situation before..." He shrugs "You're my baby, you're not supposed to have one of your own yet."

"But I do." I say flatly "So what are you going to do about it?"

"I'd like you to start visiting again." He tells me "I miss having you around, Chelsea misses having you around...if you'd like to bring...um..."

"Audrey."

"If you'd like to bring Audrey with you..." He finishes "She's welcome to stay to."

"I want her nowhere near you." I admit "I only want her around the people who love her. And it's a shame, because I'm sure Chelsea would, but I know you don't."

"I don't even know her..." He says, like it's justification

"And who's fault is that, Dad?"

He doesn't say anything.

"Whatever." I roll my eyes "She can stay with her Dad on those weekends."

"So you'll do it?"

"It's not like the custody agreement gives me much of an option." I say dryly

"You're correct, that's true."

"I'm not coming until I'm adjusted to being back at school." I tell him

"I wasn't going to suggest you come until the first weekend in February anyway." He admits "It will be good to have you around again."

"Yeah, whatever." I sigh "Is that all you wanted?"

"Yes..."

I look towards the door, hinting for him to leave.

"I don't even get a hug?" He asks

Audrey, probably now hungry for her bottle, starts crying in my arms.

"No." I shake my head "I'm busy."


	30. Chapter 30

_Cat's POV _

"Well aren't you a happy little girl?" Audrey's pediatrician coos as she examines her "Yes you are!"

I sit in a chair next to the examination table Audrey is laying on, smiling as she does too, kicking her legs and failing her arms.

"She loves to smile." The doctor tells me as she writes some things down on the baby's chart

"She does." I agree "She just learned how this past weekend, has her Daddy wrapped even further around her finger now."

"I bet." She chuckles "Her chart says she's due for another round of hepatitis B vaccinations...we'll go ahead and get a nurse to come take care of that before you leave."

"Alright." I smile as she stands up to leave "Thank you."

"Not a problem." She assures me "Bye bye Audrey!"

She exits the examination room and I stand up to retrieve Audrey from the table.

"Hi Audrey." I smile as I pick her up "My goodness, you are smiley today, aren't you?"

She grins up at me waving her arm around as I cradle her in my arms and sit back down.

"Damn kiddo..." I whisper "How am I going to leave you next week?"

How am I going to leave her ever?

It's amazing how a year ago, if somebody had come to me and told me that I'd have a baby now, much less a baby with Robbie, I would've laughed in their face. But here she is, the center of my entire world, smiling up at me.

There's a knock at the door, then a nurse enters.

"Hello." She greets me "Audrey Valentine, right?"

"That's her." I smile, bouncing Audrey in my arms.

"Alrighty." She sighs "I'll just have you hold her okay? She's probably going to cry, they all do, but hopefully she'll be comforted quicker knowing Mama's got her..."

I nod as she takes the cap off the syringe and taps the needle to get the liquid inside it ready.

"Ready?" She asks

I nod again.

She inserts the needle into Audrey's left leg and pushes down on the syringe, pulling it out as quickly as she put it in, then places a band-aid over the injection.

Audrey begins to scream her lungs out, her face turning bright red as I hold her close to me and rock her back and forth.

"You're all set!" The nurse tells me over the screaming

"Thank you!" I respond as I continue rocking my daughter "Oh Audrey baby, what happened to Mommy's little smiley girl, huh? Shhh you're okay, you're okay..."

After a few minutes, I'm able to get her quieted down and comfortable enough to put her in her car seat. Then, once I've given her her pacifier, she's fine.

I pick her car seat up and open the door to the examination room, walking out into the hallway as my phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out to see that it was a text message.

From: Chelsea 

Hi Cat! Wanted to see if you were up to grabbing lunch with me today?

I stop walking for a moment, thinking about how I should respond to this. I mean, she's always been on my side, and it's my dad I should mad at, not her.

Sure! I respond Name the place! We can be there in ten! 

* * *

"Oh my goodness." Chelsea squeals when I place Audrey's car seat down in one of the empty chairs at the table she's sitting at "Look at her!"

"Yeah..." I chuckle, not really sure of how to respond, taking Audrey out of her seat "She's a cutie."

"Just like her Mama."

"Thanks." I blush as I sit down

I'm not going to lie, this is the first time I've had the baby with me in a public place other than the baby store, where it's normal to hear a screaming baby. I'm a little nervous, especially since I'm already getting looks from bystanders.

_Yes, a teenager with a baby, we get it. Stop staring please. _

The waiter comes and we order our lunches. Chelsea makes small talk, catching me up on everything I've missed since the day I stormed out of my fathers house, and asking me questions about Audrey, who she stares at the entire time.

"Do you want to hold her?" I finally ask

"Really?" She smiles "I would love to."

"Sure." I tell her "She's a people person, always smiling."

"Well I've never met her dad..." She laughs as I carefully pass the baby to her "but I can almost guarantee she gets that from you."

"Oh she totally does." I agree.

"Oh my goodness." Chelsea gasps "I haven't held a baby in _forever_! Hi sweetie, how are you?"

I smile, taking a sip of my water.

"So." She turns back to me "When are you headed back to school?"

"Next Monday." I sigh "That is, if I can figure out what to do with her..."

"What do you mean?"

"Well I can't bring her to school with me." I laugh "And my mom works, Robbie's mom works, Charlie and Tuck both work, daycare would be too expensive..."

"I could take her." Chelsea offers

"Don't you work too?" I ask, setting my glass of water down, anxious that I might've actually found a solution to my problem

"From home." She laughs "If you'd be okay with it, and her dad would be too, I would be more than happy to take her while you're at school."

"And work?"

"_And work!_" She adds "I used to watch my sister's kids all the time before I moved out here. They haven't been babies for almost ten years, but still, I love babies."

"I don't know..." I sigh "I mean, I'm trying to keep her away from my dad as much as possible. Since you know, he wanted to make her disappear."

"Cat." She chuckles "How often is your father actually home?"

"Good point." I agree "Alright...I guess this will work then! Thank you Chelsea, so much. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Anytime kiddo." She smiles "And better me than some stranger right?"

"Right." I agree.


	31. Chapter 31

_Cat's POV_

"Okay kiddo, you ready to go?" I ask the sleeping baby in the stroller in front of me "Oh who am I kidding, you're asleep, let's go!"

I push the stroller down the driveway and turn down the street, picking up my pace to a steady jog.

I'd gotten clearance from my doctor just yesterday to start exercising again, much to my relief. So this morning when Audrey had fallen asleep for her morning nap, I'd stuck her in the stroller and set off.

It feels so great to be outside in the fresh air. Today I'm thankful we live in Los Angeles and I can be out running in the middle of January and not be freezing like people who live in say Chicago or New York. Sure, I'm wearing leggings and an athletic sweatshirt, and Audrey is wearing a pair of footed pajamas in addition to being wrapped up in a blanket, but we're both comfortable, and not freezing.

I told myself that I'd only run a mile today, seeing as I haven't actually ran for the sake of running since the 5K I'd done with Andre, Beck, Jade and Tori last spring before I found out I was pregnant. It's been a while, so I'm not sure how my body will react, especially after having what I guess you can call somewhat major surgery just a little under a month ago. But I need to get rid of the rest of this baby weight. Thankfully, I'll be back in gym class when I start school again next week, which should help the process along too.

"How you doin down there, Aud?" I call, not that I actually expect her to respond, especially since she's sleeping.

Hopefully she stays asleep too, but I pull my left earbud out anyway, so I can hear her just incase she should start crying.

We reach the edge of my neighborhood and turn around, heading back towards the park to maybe do a lap or so around the lake, then head for home.

* * *

"Okay." I sigh, pulling the stroller out of the trunk of my car "If I got this thing folded up, I can get if unfolded, right?"

When I say I got it folded up, I mean barely. It had been a real struggle, I fell like Audrey was judging me the entire time. Eventually, I had gotten it compact enough to fit into my car, but I had been extremely flustered. Now I get to figure out how to undo it all.

I pull on the red lever that is supposed to allow the stroller to open and jerk the handle upwards a few times. Much to my surprise, I have it open within five minutes of pulling it out of my car.

"Thank god." I say, pushing it around to the side of my car and opening the back door to retrieve Audrey "Hey baby girl, ready to go meet some more of Mommy's friends?"

When we had gotten home from our run today, I still had about an hour or so before I could expect her to wake up, so I put her in her crib and took a hot shower. When morning nap time was over, I gave her a bath of her own, then dressed her in an adorable outfit I can only assume came from Tori. (It's a bright orange onesie with white polka dots that says 'I Love My Aunt', bright oink pants, a close headband, and matching socks. So I know Jade didn't but it.) After that, I fed her her lunch, and she had fallen asleep for her afternoon nap, giving me time to work on getting the last of my assignments done for when I return to school on Monday.

After getting Audrey situated in the stroller, I grab the diaper bag out of the backseat, lock my car, and start pushing the stroller in the direction of Maggie's. It's in a strip mall downtown, so we had to park in a lot about a block away, but it's not like it's a bad thing, it's a nice day.

"Hi." Annie greets us as I open the door, pushing the stroller through "Welcome to Maggie's. Can I- oh my god! Cat!"

She jumps off the stool behind the counter where she had been sitting, reading a magazine, and runs over to me, embracing me in a giant hug.

"Hey." I chuckle, hugging her back "How are you?"

"I'm fine." She tells me "But forget about me. How are you? Maggie said you kept the baby!"

"Yeah this would be her." I smile, nodding towards the stroller "Little Miss Audrey Renee."

"Oh my gosh." She squeals looking down at Audrey "Can I hold her?"

"Sure." I laugh, bending down and removing her from the stroller "Just be careful of her head, okay?"

"Okay." She nods "Wow, look at her. Such a little cutie pie."

"She gets that a lot." I smile

"I figured you were out here." Mary says, entering the sales floor from the back of the store "Annie usually doesn't squeal while she's restocking shelves."

"Hi Mary!"

"Hello, Cat." She hugs me "So, this must be baby Audrey."

"Yeah." I grin "This is her."

"She looks like you."

"You think?" I ask, Mary and Annie both nod "I don't know, my mom and my brother have said that too, but I can definitely see pieces of her dad in her."

"Most babies look like their dads for the first six months to year." Mary explains "But the fact that she's already starting to look like you means you'll probably have a little mini me."

"_Really_?"

"Oh yeah." Annie agrees "When she's 18 compare pictures of what you look like now to her, you'll probably look like twins."

"I can't even imagine her being 18." I admit "I can't even imagine her being a month old, and that's in less than a week."

"Time flies, just you watch."

* * *

"Prince. No." I scold, looking up from my physics textbook "_Away_ from the baby."

The dog looks at me, as if to challenge what I just said.

"I'm serious. You know the rules."

He turns away from Audrey's blanket, walking over to my bed and jumping up onto it. He circles around a few times before laying down.

"Hey that's _my_-oh never mind." I groan "As long as you don't eat the baby..."

It's 6:30 at night. My mom is working late, Audrey is significantly less fussy than usual, which is surprising considering the day she had, and I'm doing homework.

"Okay." I sigh, closing the textbook "I think that's enough for tonight."

I only have three full days left before I go back to school and I'm on track to hopefully have everything done on time. Assuming Audrey keeps to her same schedule and I can't think of any reasons why she wouldn't.

I put my textbook back on my shelf and sit back down on the floor next to the baby.

"Hi sweetie..." I coo, brushing the top of her head gently "Your hair is startin' to grow a lil bit...I'm so sorry baby, Mommy and Daddy both have super curly hair, that means you probably will too..."

Downstairs, the doorbell rings. Prince jumps to his feet, growling, and runs downstairs.

"Oh that's right, it's Thursday." I remind myself out loud, picking Audrey up and going to answer the door "Prince! Shut up! I'm coming!"

I unlock the door and open it to reveal Robbie, holding a to-go bag from Panera Bread, his backpack hung over his shoulder.

"Hey there Prince!" He laughs as the dog jumps up on his legs "Hi ladies."

"Hey." I greet him, stepping aside so he can come in "What's in the bag?"

"My dinner. Tutoring session ran long tonight so I just picked something up on the way." He explains as we walk towards the kitchen "Have you eaten yet? I got you a salad. I figured if worst comes to worst you can have it for lunch tomorrow."

"I haven't actually. Thank you." I tell him "I've been doing homework all night."

"Ready to go back?" He asks, setting the bag down and taking Audrey from me "Hey sweetheart!"

"No." I admit, going over to the fridge and grabbing a bottle out of it

"Come on, it won't be so bad."

"Easy for you to say." I roll my eyes, running the bottle under hot water to warm it up "You didn't get a month off."

"You're right, I didn't." He laughs "But you're pretty caught up right?"

"As caught up as I can be."

"Then you'll be fine."

"Except now I'm 'The Girl Who Had a Baby'." I sigh, handing the bottle to him

"How is that any worse than being 'The Pregnant Girl'?"

"Now not only are people talking about me..." I sigh "They're talking about her too. So not only do I have to worry about people talking crap about my kid, I'm constantly reminded of the fact I don't get to spend every waking minute of the day with her anymore."

"People won't talk crap about her." He assures me "They're not that narrow minded."

"How do you know?"

"I don't know..." He shrugs "I just do."


	32. Chapter 32

_Cat's POV _

"Aren't you just the world's cutest baby?" Charlie coos as he holds Audrey up, just over his head "Aren't you baby girl? Huh? Aren't you?"

"Charlie." I laugh

"What?"

"You're talking to her the way someone would talk to a dog." Tuck chuckles, putting his arm around him "She's a _baby_, not a puppy."

"Well I just love her so much!" He coos again, lifting her up and down "I want her to know!"

"Um Uncle Charlie? I would be careful she just-"

My warning apparently comes too late because before I can even get the last word out, Audrey spits up, sending a stream of puke flying down the front of her outfit, and onto her Uncle's face.

"_Ate_." I finish.

"Aw Audrey." He groans "What's you do that for?"

"It's not her fault." I tell him standing up from my place on the floor next to the couch their sitting on

"I know, but still."

"Come here baby girl." I sigh, taking Audrey from my brother and cradling her in the crook of my arm "Let's go clean you up."

"What about Uncle Charlie?"

"Uncle Charlie can go to the kitchen and ask his mommy for a towel." I laugh "We'll be right back."

"She threw up on me!" I hear Charlie exclaim to Tuck as I exit the living from

"Babe," Tuck says, I can tell he's trying not to laugh "It's no different then eating a big meal then riding a roller coaster, you're gonna throw up!"

By now, we're upstairs so I can no longer hear the conversation. I honestly can't wait for Tuck and Charlie to have a baby of their own, should they decide they ever want kids, because I feel like watching them try to figure it all out would be better than any sitcom on TV.

"Not gonna lie baby..." I smirk as I lie Audrey down on her changing table "Your aim_ isn't_ half bad."

She smiles and waves her arm around a bit before sticking her fist in her mouth.

"Is that yummy?" I ask her "Hm? Are you trying to eat your hand?"

I slide the onesie that she had been wearing off and toss it in her hamper. After changing her diaper, I open one of the drawers underneath and pull out a new outfit. It's almost 7:00, so I feel footed pajamas are appropriate.

"There we go..." I whisper as I slide her tiny arms through the clothing "Nice and comfy, yeah?"

"Cat!" My mom calls upstairs "Audrey! Dinner is ready!"

"Be right down!" I call back "Come on Aud, let's go."

I grab one of her blankets and a pacifier and we head downstairs into the dining room, where we almost never eat, but apparently Charlie and Tuck being over is a special occasion. Even though I'm wearing a tank top and sweatpants.

Charlie pulls out a chair for me and I sit down, half cradling Audrey, half supporting her with my knee as I try to eat my food at the same time.

"Got her okay?" My mom chuckles from across the table

"Oh yeah." I assure her "I've become a pro at eating and holding her at the same time."

Which is true, because I'm home alone with her all day, and I have to eat sometime.

"Here let me take her." Tuck offers

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. I multitask all day long." He tells me "Besides, I haven't gotten a turn yet tonight."

"Alright." I chuckle as I hand her over to him

"So kiddo, you ready to go back to school tomorrow?" Charlie asks

"No." I admit "I'd much rather be home with her all day."

"That's how all moms feel." My mom chuckles "It will never get any easier, just so you know."

"Great." I roll my eyes

* * *

"12-36-10." Jade says from behind me

"Thank you." I sigh, entering the numbers on the lock and pulling it open

I had been standing there staring at it, unable to remember the combination.

"No problem." She tells me leaning up against the lockers next to me "Not gonna lie, Tori and I have been using it for extra storage."

"Well thank you for moving out before I came back." I laugh as I begin pulling folders and notebooks out of my backpack

"Again, you're welcome." She repeats as the rest of our friend group approaches "Hey guys."

"Hi." I say also

"Good to see you back at school, lil red." Andre smiles

"Doesn't feel that good to be back." I admit

"Rough morning?" Tori frowns

"You have no idea." I groan "God I miss her so much already and I only dropped her off like half an hour ago!"

"Well school is over in what?" Beck checks his watch "Seven hours?"

"That's seven hours too many."

The bells rings, warning us there's ten minutes until our first class starts.

"Come on." Tori grabs my hand, starting to drag me towards our physics classroom

"No!" I resist

"You'll be fine." She assures me "So will Audrey. You can call and check up on her at lunch."

"That's like four hours from now!"

"Cat."

"What?"

"You'll be fine."

"I know." I sigh "It just sucks, you know?"

"I know." She gives me a sympathetic look "It'll get easier."

"I hope so."

* * *

"Hi baby!" I squeal as Audrey and Chelsea appear on my phone screen "I miss you!"

"Hi Mommy!" Chelsea waves Audrey's hand back and forth "I miss you too!"

Thank goodness for FaceTime

"Has she been okay?" I ask "Like is she behaving?"

"Like an angel." Chelsea assures me "She's incredibly well behaved."

"That's what I like to hear." I smile

"Hey." Robbie approaches the lunch table, hand in hand with Lydia "Who you talkin' to?"

"Audrey look it's Daddy!"

"Hi Princess!" His face lights up "Are you being good for Chelsea?"

"She sure is." Chelsea responds

"That's my girl!"

"So is this going to be lunch everyday?" Beck asks "Talking to the baby all period?"

"No." I chuckle "Not all period. She's gonna have to eat soon, and then she'll fall asleep, right?"

"That's what you wrote in the instructions." Chelsea chuckles, holding up the notebook I had left with her

On cue, Audrey starts to whimper

"Lunch time." I smirk

"Alright, we're gonna let you go now."

"Bye baby girl!" I smile "I love you!"

"I love you too, sweetheart!" Robbie adds

"Bye bye!" Chelsea waves

* * *

"Did you have a fun day today?" I ask Audrey as I give her her bath that night "Hm? I bet you had more fun than Mommy and Daddy did."

"School isn't _that_ bad." Robbie chuckles, leaning up against the counter, watching us.

"I'm sure it be much more fun if she got to come with us." I sigh

"Sure about that?"

"No." I admit "Hand me that washcloth, please?"

"Let me finish her." He offers "Please?"

"Be my guest." I move aside so he can take over

Audrey wriggles around, splashing water everywhere

"This is harder than it looks."

"Yeah." I laugh "Need help?"

"How about you hold her up and I wash?" He offers

"Sure." I shrug, moving so close to him we're practically on top of each other, supporting Audrey so she doesn't hurt her neck.

Definitely not awkward at all...

"Hi baby!" I coo, causing the baby to grin

"You know..." He says as he washes her chest and stomach "She's got your smile."

"You think?" I ask, looking up at him

Our eyes meet, and for a split second, it's almost like I feel a connection.

"Yeah." He coughs, breaking his gaze "I mean, it's definitely not mine. I had the ugliest smile when I was a kid."

_Well that was weird._

"How do you know mine wasn't ugly too?"

"Because you're Cat Valentine." He shrugs "Theres nothing ugly about you."


	33. Chapter 33

_Cat's POV _

"_Baby you're my wild card.._." I sing softly, brushing Audrey's cheek gently with the edge of my thumb "_My perfect little twist of fate.._."

She's asleep in her swing, peacefully swaying side to side. Adorable, innocent, and completely oblivious. I'm almost jealous.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, signaling I have a text from Tori. Quietly, I grab the baby monitor off of Audrey's changing table and after clipping it to the waistband of my jeans, I go downstairs to let her in.

"Hey." I greet her when I open the door "How was work?"

"Fabulous." She groans as she enters the house "It's great getting sneezed on and licked by little kids all afternoon."

"Well that's what you get for working at a daycare." I laugh "And it's not like my afternoon was any different."

"There's only one of Audrey!"

"But she's twice the work." I remind her "Those kids are potty-trained and can feed themselves."

"Thank god."

"Whatever." I chuckle "Let's just get started on this project before Little Miss decides she's hungry again."

"Is she awake?" Tori asks

"Yes. She's awake and unattended by herself upstairs." I reply sarcastically "No, she's asleep."

"Aw." She pouts "I was hoping to get some cuddle time in."

"She'll want dinner eventually." I tell her "Which I'm sure will be before you leave, you can cuddle then."

"Fine I'll wait." She sighs "Wait, is Robbie coming over tonight?"

I shake my head no.

"It's Wednesday."

"Oh right." She says, sitting down and pulling out her textbook "Anyway, this project."

"Wait hang on." I stop her "Can we go back to Robbie for a second?"

"Sure?" She says with a questionable look "What's up?"

"Alright..." I sigh sitting down next to her "between you and me, right?"

"Of course."

"Okay." I begin "So he was over here the other night visiting the baby right? He was helping me give her a bath, so we were kinda standing really close to each other and...and I don't even know. I think she splashed us or something and we ended up looking into each other's eyes...and it was...I don't know it was weird."

"Like death stare into each other's eyes?" She asks "Or like love?"

"Like love."

"Well did you feel anything?"

"I felt something..." I admit "but it wasn't love. You know? Like it wasn't what I feel when I look at Audrey or what I used to feel when I would look at Danny."

"Let's not talk about Danny..."

"It was just an example." I explain "But do you know what I'm saying?"

"You felt something but it wasn't love." She shrugs "Maybe it was...I don't know...maybe you're in like."

"In like?" I raise an eyebrow at her "You think I like Robbie?"

"You had sex with him." She reminds me "You had to have liked him a little bit."

"We had sex because we were drunk!" I exclaim "Being in love or in like had nothing to do with it! It was stupid, meaningless sex!"

"So you don't like him?" She asks "Not even a little bit? Even though he's your daughter's father?"

"No." I shake my head "Well, I mean. Not like him like that. He's my best friend. And I'm happy we have Audrey, but I don't want to be with him."

"So then what was the point of bringing this up?"

"I don't know." I admit "I guess I just wanted the reassurance of hearing it out loud."

"So can we start this project now?"

"Yeah I guess." I sigh "But Tori?"

"Hm?"

"Don't say anything to anybody."

"You're secret is safe with me Cat, don't worry."

* * *

"Hi baby!" I coo, blowing raspberries on Audrey's stomach as I get her dressed, causing her to smile "How's my little girl? Are you a happy baby?"

I hear my mom snicker as she walks by the nursery.

"What?" I call out to her, laughing.

"Nothing." She chuckles, walking back and standing in the doorway, laundry basket on her hip "Just laughing is all."

"At me?"

"Yes at you." She smiles "It's a cute interaction."

"Well it's not like she can respond."

"Not verbally." She shrugs "But she's smiling at you."

"Yeah she does that." I blush "I can't believe how much she's grown."

"Well enjoy her while she's tiny." She warns "Before you know it, you'll blink and she'll be married."

"Let's work on holding her head up on her own first." I laugh

"I'm just warning you sweetheart." She enters the room "It happens faster than you think. I mean, she's already a month old!"

"Yeah." I smile down at her "I guess she is. Holy crap."

"See what I mean?" She tickles the baby's tummy, causing her to smile more "Man that smile is adorable."

"Her smile is what makes people fall in love with her." I admit "Me, you, Robbie, Tuck and Charlie...she has everybody wrapped around her finger."

"You were like that too when you were a baby." She tells me

"Was I really?"

"Oh yeah." She laughs "Not only were you the youngest out of all the grandchildren on your Dad's side by a good five years or so, you were the only girl. Your first and only Christmas in New York you had basically every Playskool toy in existence."

My Dad doesn't exactly talk about his family a whole lot. Partially because he isn't sentimental like that, but also because none of them live in the area, or the state for that matter. They're all on the east coast.

"I bet that drove Charlie up a wall." I smirk

"Are you kidding?" She chuckles "Your brother has been head over heels with the idea of a little sister ever since we told him he was getting one. He was fine. Alright, I need to finish putting this laundry away, dinner in an hour okay?"

"Okay." I respond as she exits the room "See baby girl? I told you everybody loves you."

I finish dressing her and carry her over to the rocking chair so I can work on getting her to sleep. However, the entire time, I think about what my mom said about Charlie loving the idea of a little sister. Sure, Charlie is Charlie, but it makes me wonder if Audrey will ever be able to be excited about something like that.

When the time comes, should the time ever come, it will be completely different for her. Obviously it will be a half sibling, but will it come from me and my future husband? Or will it come from Robbie and his future wife? How many will she have? Will she want a brother? Or a sister? Only time will tell.

"Audrey, sweetheart..." I whisper as her eyes start to close "I love you very much, okay? Don't ever forget that."


	34. Chapter 34

_Cat's POV_

"Busted!" Annie exclaims, running up behind me and making me jump "Careful, don't let Mary catch you on that thing, you know how much she _loves_ it when people text on the job."

"Sorry." I blush, embarrassed that she caught me "I'm just checking on the baby."

Which isn't a lie, I had been texting Chelsea, checking up on Audrey, who I'm missing terribly. I thought being away from her for eight hours for school was going to be hard, but being away for almost twelve because of work now is even worse.

"Missin' her, aren't you?" Annie smirks

"Yes." I sigh, going back to the pile of shirts I had been folding "I won't see her much tonight either."

"You're off in like an hour, Cat." She rolls her eyes "You have all night to cuddle or bond or whatever you do with a newborn."

"She's a month old now. Technically she's an infant, not a newborn." I remind her "But it's Monday, and her dad visits her on Mondays."

"Ah, so you'll get time with her, you just won't have her all to yourself." She laughs, I nod "You know, that's not usually an issue with parents."

"Usually parents are married or at least like each other romantically." I roll my eyes "It's so incredibly complicated it's not even funny anymore."

"Well I didn't think there was anything funny about teen pregnancy to begin with." Annie shrugs "But I'll take your word for it."

"You know what I meant." I chuckle, just as Mary enters the storefront "Hey Mary!"

"Hi girls." She smiles "Everything doing okay out here?"

"Yup!" I respond, walking towards the counter where she is "Do you have a second though? I was hoping to talk to you real quick."

"Oh I always have a few seconds to spare." She chuckles "What's up?"

"I was wondering if there's any way I could pick up a few extra hours every week..." I explain "I need the money."

"I was wondering how long it would be before you asked for that." She smirks, gesturing for me to follow her back to her office "Come on, let's go see what we can do."

I follow her back to the dressing room hallway and down to the office at the end of it. Mary unlocks the door and we both step inside, she sits down in her office chair, I lean against the wall.

"You can sit down." She laughs, motioning to the sofa against the wall "I'm the cool boss, remember?"

"Sorry." I apologize, sitting down

"I know, I know." She sighs, typing something into her computer "You're out of it because you miss the baby."

"How'd you guess?"

"I know things." She tells me, continuing to type things into the computer

I glance around the office, it's pretty stereotypical. A few pictures, a bulletin board, where one of Audrey's birth announcements hangs. It's the same one Robbie and I have taped to the inside to our lockers, and the same one that got sent out to our select friends and family that wouldn't be judgmental.

"Alrighty..." Mary says, snapping me back to the present "Looks like most Thursday afternoons we tend to be short staffed..."

"I can work Thursdays!" I offer

"You get off school at three right?"

I nod.

"Lets's see...you usually come in at 3:30 and leave at 6:30 and Annie comes in at 4:00 and stays until closing...but Annie doesn't work Thursdays, so we wouldn't have anybody to close..." She hints "You think you could stay the extra half hour just one day?"

"Of course!"

Beggars can't be choosers, right?

"Could you start this week?"

I nod again.

"Alright, I'll put it in the computer then." She tells me "Cat's taking the open Thursday shift..."

* * *

"Audrey!" I sing song as I enter my father's apartment "Baby I missed you!"

"See Audrey?" I hear Chelsea say "I _told_ you Mommy would be here to get you soon!"

"Hi!" I exclaim, running to the living room where Audrey is laying on a blanket, Chelsea sitting next to her

"She missed you." Chelsea tells me as I pick the baby up

"I missed her!" I smile kissing the tip of Audrey's nose and cuddling her to my chest "Is Dad home?"

"No not yet." Chelsea sighs "He's really looking forward to you staying here this weekend, you know."

"That makes _one_ of us." I roll my eyes, walking over to out Audrey in her car seat

"Oh it won't be so bad." She assures me "He does really miss having you around."

"Right, because I'm not the embarrassing pregnant teenager anymore." I sigh "And because Audrey isn't coming with me. Right baby girl? You're gonna go to Daddy's this weekend, aren't you?"

"If he saw how good you are with her, he might change his mind." She admits "I mean, look at that little girl, she absolutely adores you."

"Well I adore her!" I coo, kissing the baby's nose again "I just...I don't know, I'm not comfortable with them being around each other yet...maybe with time."

"As long as you're not abandoning the idea altogether." She smiles

"I make no promises." I say, picking up the car seat "Come on Aud, we should get home. Mommy is starving and I'll bet you want to eat sometime soon too."

"I'll see you two in the morning." Chelsea tells us, handing me the diaper bag "have a good night."

"You too!" I smile, exiting the apartment

I walk the maybe ten feet, set Audrey down and hit the button to call the elevator, making silly faces and tickling her while we wait.

The doors open and I pick the seat up, almost running right smack into my Dad.

"Oh, Caterina. Hi." He greets me

"Uh, hi." I respond awkwardly

"You're usually gone by now." He checks his watch

"I went back to work today." I told him "So I pick her up between 7:00 and 7:30 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays now."

"I see." He nods "Have you eaten yet?"

"No. But Mom has dinner waiting." I say "We should probably get going."

"Oh okay. I'll see you Friday night then." He smiles

"Yeah." I sigh, stepping past him into the elevator

He half-waves goodbye as the doors close and the car starts moving downwards.

"Well that was awkward." I whisper

Audrey coos and kicks her legs underneath her blanket, looking up at me.

"That's right, baby girl." I chuckle "You tell em."


	35. Chapter 35

_Cat's POV _

"Hey." Robbie greets me, opening the door so I can step inside "Come on in."

"Thanks." I smile, entering the small townhouse with Audrey and some of her possessions in tow "Where's your Mom?"

"Away for work." He explains "She'll be back tomorrow night."

"Are you sure you'll be able to handle her by yourself?" I ask "I mean, she's a big responsibility."

"He's not alone!" Lydia says, entering the front hallway from the kitchen "I'm here to help, at least until curfew."

"Which is midnight?" Robbie clarifies as he takes Audrey out of her seat "Right?"

"Right." She nods

"I'll be okay." He smiles "We'll be okay."

I'm not exactly sure how I feel about Robbie and Lydia using Audrey to play house for the night, but I know she's his daughter too. So he should be allowed to have her around Lydia. She spends so much time with me, it's only fair.

"Alright, so you have enough diapers in here to last you more than the weekend." I explain, opening the diaper bag to show him "If for some reason you should run out, she wears Pampers newborns. Don't buy Huggies, they make her break out, and she turns into a holy terror when that happens."

"Pampers, not Huggies." He nods "Got it."

"And you have three outfits and four pairs of pajamas." I continue "Just in case. She eats four ounces about every three to four hours. Don't jostle her around too much after she eats or she'll spit up all over you. Charlie learned that the hard way a few weeks ago."

"Cat." He laughs "It's only a few days, I got it."

"Right." I sigh "I know, this is just the first time I'm leaving her overnight anywhere."

"It'll be fine." He assures me "And if I'm not, I know how to get ahold of you."

"I know." I repeat "God, I better go before I cry."

"Here say goodbye." He turns Audrey towards me

"Ooh bye baby girl!" I coo, playing with her hands "I'll see you Sunday, be good for Daddy and Lydia, okay? I love you!"

"I love you too, Mommy!" Robbie says in a baby voice, moving her arm up and down to look like she's waving "Have a good weekend."

"You too, sweetie." I smile "Okay, I'm gonna go now. I'll call later and check up on her."

"Sounds good." Robbie agrees as I pick up the empty car seat "I'll talk to you later then."

"Bye."

I exit the house, walking down the front path to the shared driveway out front. After reattaching the seat to it's base in the backseat of my little red car, I climb into the driver's seat and start the engine.

"Just two days." I whisper to myself "You can do this."

* * *

"Hi there." Chelsea greets me when I enter the apartment "Long time no see."

I had picked Audrey up only three hours ago.

"Hi." I laugh, closing the door behind me

"Hi!" My dad exclaims, entering the room

"Hi." I say flatly, kicking off my flip flops and pushing past him, down the hallway to my bedroom.

"Caterina." He groans, but doesn't follow me

"Still angry with you!" I singsong, disappearing out of his line of vision

"Give her some space." I hear Chelsea tell him.

I enter my room and slam the door behind me, throwing my duffle bag down on my bed. Everything is exactly the same as I'd left it almost nine months ago. The sundress I'd worn to dinner the night I'd told my dad I was pregnant still lays crumpled on the floor.

I walk over and pick it up, throwing it in the hamper in my bathroom, where my hair straightener is still laying on the counter. It's almost too eerie to handle.

Re-entering the bedroom, I open the sliding glass door and step out onto my balcony, taking a big breath of fresh air. My head is spinning.

Being back in this apartment for more than the average fifteen minutes I spend here dropping Audrey off and picking her up makes me feel sick.

My dad and I had never been all that close when I was growing up, but then he told me he wanted me to abort my daughter. And yeah, at one point I had thought that that's what I wanted too, but I realized it would be a mistake and I'd never be able to live with myself and that's what was important. Then he tries to buy my love back with a fancy new car and expects everything to be okay again? No. This road to rebuilding our relationship is going to be long, if it ever ends.

* * *

It's hard for me to sleep that night. I'm practically swimming in blankets in the queen sized bed, as opposed to the twin one I'm used to sleeping at back at my Mom's. The buzz from the AC vent I've grown accustomed to is no longer there, and most of all, there's no Audrey.

It's unsettling, not having her around. Not knowing if she was happy or healthy. When I called and checked up on her earlier, Robbie had claimed she was fine, but I still can't shake this feeling that something is wrong.

Finally, just as I'm about to drift off at around 2:45 my phone starts buzzing.

"Hello?" I answer

"Hi." Robbie greets me, he sounds frantic

"Hi." I say back "Is everything okay?"

I can hear Audrey crying in the background.

"She's been going for a good thirty minutes straight." He tells me "Help. Please."

"Hang on." I sigh, lifting the sheets off of me and putting on a pair of sweatpants "I'll be right there."

The average drive from my dad's apartment to Robbie's usually takes me about fifteen minutes, but at almost three am with no traffic and all green lights, I'm able to make it in almost eight.

I pull the car into the same driveway as I did about nine hours ago and quickly turn off the ignition, hoping out, slamming the door, and jogging up the front walk.

There's a light on in Robbie's bedroom, and his window is open, so I can hear Audrey crying from here.

My poor baby girl.

I pull back the loose piece of siding on the side of the house, fishing the spare key out from behind it, and make my way into the house.

"ROBBIE!" I call as I walk down the hallway towards his room "Hey I'm here. What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure." He looks relieved to see me "She ate about an hour ago, her diaper is dry, I've been rocking and singing to her for the past forty-five minutes, nothing has worked."

"Here." I extend my arms to him, and he hands the baby over without a second thought "Hi Audrey, baby girl...what's that the matter?"

Her face is bright red and blotchy, and she continues to scream.

"Hey now...you're okay." I coo "You said she ate an hour ago?"

He nods.

"How were you holding her?"

"Normally?" He shrugs

"Robbie I'm serious." I hand the baby back to him "Here, show me."

"I don't know..." He hesitates "Like this I guess."

He cradles her flat on her back.

"You have to have her slightly elevated." I explain "Or the milk doesn't settle right, here give her to me..."

I raise Audrey to my shoulder, letting her rest her head against it, and pat her back slightly as I rock back and forth. After a few minutes, I hear a burp and her cries are quieted with a soft coo.

"Gas." I explain, setting her back down in the pac n play "Its a real bitch."

"Wow." He laughs "You haven't even been here fifteen minutes and you fixed everything."

"I made that mistake a few times myself." I explain, turning to go "Now you know how to fix it too."

"Wait." He stops me "Stay a little while longer, just incase she wakes up again."

"Alright." I shrug, taking a seat on the bed.

* * *

I wake up the next morning to Audrey crying, which confuses me, because I'm with my dad this weekend.

Except I'm not at my Dad's house, I'm in Robbie's bedroom.

In his bed.

With him.

"Robbie!" I smack his arm "Get up!"

He shoots straight up in bed.

"What the fuck?" He exclaims "Did you fall asleep here?"

"I must have." I shrug, getting up to tend to the baby

"Lydia is gonna kill me!"

"Oh relax." I sigh "She won't even find out. It's not like we did anything anyway."

"Right." He nods, checking his watch on his bedside table "Right right right. But...CRAP! she'll be here in like twenty minutes, you gotta leave!"

"Alright. I'm gone." I hand Audrey back to him, sliding my shoes on and going to leave "See you tomorrow night then."

"Yeah see ya." He agrees "But hey Cat?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for helping me out."

"Sure." I smile "No problem."

But for some reason, I almost wish I hadn't.


	36. Chapter 36

_Cat's POV _

As I stop out of the elevator on my dad's floor, I pray that he's already up and working in his office and that Chelsea just isn't around so they don't notice I'm gone. However, when I open the door, I can clearly see that isn't the case.

"Caterina Valentine." My father scolds "Where the hell have you been?"

"Like you _actually_ care." I scoff, trying to push past him.

He sticks an arm out to stop me, which works because he's twice my height and way stronger too.

"No more of this!" He exclaims "I'm _done_ with the attitude from you!"

"Wow look who's actually _interested_ in my life again."

"I've always been interested in your life!" He defends "_You're_ the one who has been pushing me away."

"Don't even go there." I warn "I had every right to push you away. You _know_ that. As much as you don't want to admit it, you know it's true."

"What's going on?" Chelsea asks entering the living room "I heard yelling."

"Miss Caterina decided to sneak out last night." My father explains, folding his arms across his chest "She just got home."

"I didn't sneak out!" I exclaim "Robbie called me and said he needed help with Audrey! I went to help my _daughter_!"

"When did you leave?" My dad narrows his eyes at me

"I dunno." I shrug "2:30 maybe?"

"Please explain to me what 'issue' with Audrey would take you seven hours." He says sternly "Caterina, didn't you learn your lesson the _first_ time?"

"Are you kidding me?" I practically almost scream "You think I was out having sex with Robbie?"

"Or some other boy." He adds "Or drinking, or smoking, or something else terrible. What kind of example are you setting for your daughter?"

"What kind of example am I setting for my daughter?" I gasp "Dad, what kind of example are you setting for me? Just jumping to conclusions like this? Listen to me. Robbie couldn't get Audrey calmed down, he was exhausted, he called me in a panic. So I went, I helped him, he asked me to stick around for a few minutes in case she woke up again, we got to talking honestly about his child support payments and we. fell. asleep! No sex! No drugs! No smoking! Our daughter was in the room! What kind of people do you think we are?"

He's silent, rubbing his temples.

"Why can't you just trust me..." I whisper

"Because you're _seventeen_!" He snaps "You got pregnant and had a baby because you got drunk and had sex!"

"I wasn't drinking knowingly!" I counter "That punch was spiked with vodka! And I'm almost eighteen, Dad. I have a _baby_, and in case you haven't noticed, she's turned out _just_ fine so far!"

"How would I know?" He's yelling now "You won't even let me meet her!"

"Because you get like this!" I he'll back "I'm always a disappointment! Everything is always my fault! Sure, Charlie can do no wrong, but Cat? Wow, who let her out?"

"That's not the case..."

"Isn't it though?" I exclaim "Dad. Look me in the eye and tell me...TELL ME that you didn't want me to abort Audrey because you were afraid of what people would think of you, not what they would think about me."

"I always have your best interests in mind, you know that Caterina!"

"That's _not_ what I said." I chuckle "Whatever Dad...I need to get ready for work. I have a child to support now, I can't afford to lose my job."

This time when I walk past, he doesn't try to stop me.

"We're not done talking about this!" He calls after me

"I am for now!" I singsong back

In my bedroom, I change out of my pajamas and into a pair of skinny jeans and a nice floral tank top.

"I believe you." Chelsea says, appearing at my doorway as I slide my grey vans on "I know you were where you said you were, doing what you said you were doing."

"I'm glad somebody does..." I sigh, standing up and grabbing my make up off the dresser and walking to the bathroom to apply it "What is his deal?"

"He's still trying to wrap his head around it all..." She explains, following me "It's hard for him too, you know."

"You say that every time..." I groan "But some days he wants to be nice and rebuild, and others he gets like this."

"I know...I know." She frowns "It's just..."

"It's just what?"

"You both need to start by meeting each other halfway." She suggests "Don't be cold one another all the time, it won't get you anywhere."

"When he gets over himself, then I'll meet him halfway." I say "I'm not going all the way to him."

* * *

"Guys I have no money." I groan "Why are we here?"

"Retail therapy." Tori explains "You're mad at your dad, let all your problems go while you shop."

"Did you miss the whole thing about me having no money?" I clarify

I had asked her and Jade if they wanted to hang out tonight, obviously not wanting to go home to my father. I figured they'd want to do something fun you normally would do without a baby, since we had the opportunity, but no. They wanted to go to the mall.

"You have money." Jade smirks "What about all the Christmas money and you know that thing you have called _a job_?"

"I had a baby." I sigh "I need to spend that money on her."

"Alright." She shrugs "Let's go to Baby Barn then."

"No I mean on actual stuff." I tell them "Like food and diapers."

"She's starting to grow isn't she?" Tori asks "She'll need new clothes eventually. Better to have them now then need them and not have them. Come on."

She grabs my hand and starts pulling me in the general direction of Baby Barn, Jade following begin us.

The store is an explosion of pastels and baby clothes. Literally everywhere.

"Come on, it'll be fun." Jade nudges me "Even I enjoy it sometimes."

"It's fun until it starts to add up." I remind her

I walk over to a display of pink, red, and white Valentine's Day outfits.

"Oh right..." I whisper "That's coming up soon."

"Getting excited for the big one-eight?" Tori asks, appearing next to me

"I honestly sorta forgot it was coming up." I admit, sorting through the outfits "Oh this is cute."

I hold up a pair of pink footed pajamas with little red hearts all over like polka dots.

"Footed pajamas?" Jade raises an eyebrow "That's all she ever wears, Cat."

"She's six weeks old!" I exclaim "Putting her in anything besides footed pajamas or onesies is just a waste. She either ruins them or grows out of them."

"Woah six weeks old already?"

I nod.

"Where does the time go?"

"I don't know." I laugh, shaking my head

I end up buying the pajamas, along with a few other outfits, a package of diapers, two new bibs, and a new package of burp cloths. Which ends up costing me a total of just under a hundred dollars.

"I may not be perfect but Mom thinks I'm awesome." Jade chuckles, reading the sweatshirt I bought Audrey out loud "Cute."

"I know." I say snatching it back from her and putting it in the shopping bag

"Mommy's little diva?" She asks, looking into the bag at another onsie "Well, I guess it's not a lie."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I laugh

"She's going to be a mini-cat." Tori smiles "I can already see it."

"Six weeks and you already have her whole personality figured out?"

"Not entirely but I see pieces of you in her."

"Like?"

"Well her smile is yours for sure."

"Shut up. It is not." I disagree

"Oh it totally is!" Jade counters, agreeing with Tori "You have the same dimples and everything."

"Really?"

"Really!" They both exclaim in unison

"Well Mary did say she looks like me..."

Hopefully, Audrey turns out like me in appearances only, and I guess it wouldn't be so bad if she got my singing voice. I just hope she has a relationship with Robbie a million times better than the one I have with my own Dad.


	37. Chapter 37

_Cat's POV _

Days pass and turn into weeks. I turn 18, Jade and Tori take me out to dinner while Robbie stays with Audrey, with it being his weekend and all.

I argue with my father more and more, especially as my friends start getting their college acceptance letters, and even more so when they start committing.

Beck is going to Boston University, to study theatre. Jade is going to New York University, to study playwriting and dramaturgy, with a minor in business. Tori is headed to San Francisco State to study education and possibly minor in music of some sort. Andre is going to Berklee to study Music Production. Lydia ended up committing to Grand Canyon University to study performing arts and production, just like Robbie had said she probably would. And as for him...he was accepted to the business program at University of Arizona, and after many phone calls that lasted well into the night, and many serious conversations, he decided to take it.

Me? I had been accepted to NYU, UCLA, Julliard, Berklee, and University of Georgia. Much to my father's dismay, I've decided to attend classes at Los Angeles Community College in the fall. Same education, less expensive, and more time I can be around Audrey. Don't ask me what I'm majoring in, I couldn't tell you if I wanted to. My main focus right now is graduating high school, and taking care of my ever-growing baby girl.

She's still small for her age, but at now close to four months old, she's almost twice the sizes she was when she was born. She's learned to roll over and can hold her head up on her own when she lays on her tummy. Her laugh is the most precious thing I've ever heard, and her smile is just as bright as always.

My mother claims she looks more and more like me everyday, but I can see pieces of Robbie in her. Her nose, the few dark curls that have started to grow in random places on her head, and the way she scrunches her face up when she giggles and laughs. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I could be so in love with someone, a child especially.

She's my motivation for everything, to do well in school, to go the extra mile at work, to meet my deadlines, everything. The extra shift I picked up has helped out tremendously, but I still pick up extra hours here and there whenever I can. Nothing is easy anymore, but it's hard to imagine it being any other way.

"Yay!" I squeal as I hold Audrey's arms above her head, bouncing her on my lap

"Great job, baby!" Tori cheers as Andre slides into second base "You got it!"

Andre gives us a slight wave as he removes his batting helmet, tossing it to the second base coach.

Tonight was a rare night when I had absolutely nothing on my calendar, so I decided to bring Audrey out to her first Hollywood Art's Varsity Home Baseball game to watch her Uncle Beck and Uncle Andre play. Tori is here with us, Jade and Robbie will be here when they're done with track practice, and Lydia will come when her dance rehearsal is over, then we'll all go out to dinner after the game.

"Ah-ba!" Audrey exclaims, reaching her hands outwards towards the ground, towards what, I, not exactly sure.

"Ball?" I ask, turning her towards me and standing her up on my lap to let her bounce around a bit "Baseball?"

She smiles and covers her face with her hands, I blow a raspberry on her cheek and sit her facing the game again, wrapping my arms around her and hugging her to me.

"I love you baby." I whisper to her before sitting up again

A chilly breeze blows through the air, making me shiver a little bit, and Audrey as well.

"Here baby hang on." I tell her, leaning over to the stroller I have sitting next to the bleachers to grab her diaper bag "Mommy will find your jacket hang on."

"Here I'll take her." Tori offers, leaning over and taking her from me "Hi Aud!"

The baby giggles as Tori moves her up and down in the air, handing her back to me when I find her pink zip up so I can put it on her, just as the inning changes.

"Audrey look!" I gasp, pointing towards the direction of the school "It's Auntie Jade!"

"Hey bug." Jade smiles as she approaches us "How are you?"

Audrey grins and extends her arms to Jade, who reaches out go grab her, but I pull her away quickly.

"Are you clean?" I ask her

"Yes." She rolls her eyes "I just showered. Do you want to smell me?"

"No I trust you." I laugh, handing Audrey over to her "I just don't want my baby to stink."

"Go Uncle Beck!" Jade cheers, holding one of Audrey's arms up above her head "Strike em out!"

I can see Beck chuckling to himself on the pitchers mound as Jade continues cheer, both to encourage him, and to make Audrey laugh.

"Hey all." Robbie greets us, sitting down on the bleachers next to Tori, Lydia close behind him "Who's winning?"

"It's seven to two, we're winning." I tell him

"If Beck strikes the next two guys out we win." Tori adds

"He can do that." Lydia shrugs, climbing onto Robbie's lap

"He can totally do that." Robbie agrees, kissing her cheek "I mean, he's only let up two runs the whole game so far."

"One." Tori corrects him "Beck was supposed to sit this game out, but Nate Judd threw his arm out in the second inning and they brought him in."

"Oh then no problem." Robbie chuckles, tightening his arms around Lydia's waist and resting his head on her shoulder to watch the game.

"Strike three!" The umpire exclaims as the batter removes his helmet and walks back to his dugout

"That's one." Jade says "So where are we going for dinner?"

"Inside Out Burger?" I ask "I mean, is anybody really in the mood for anything all that fancy?"

There's lots of 'no not really's and 'yeah that sounds good's.

"I guess we're going to Inside Out Burger." Tori laughs

There's the crack of the wooden bat connecting with a ball and all our heads snap towards the field just in time to see number 26 for the opposite team hit a line drive to third base, straight into Andre's glove.

"He's out!" The umpire yells "Game over! Hollywood Arts wins!"

"Yaaaay!" Jade smiles, spinning Audrey in circles as both teams start shaking hands

"Alright Aunt Jade." I chuckle, holding my arms out "Give her back."

"Fine." Jade pouts

She holds Audrey straight out in front of her, and the baby kicks her legs and giggles hysterically. I let her have her fun for a second before taking her and getting up to put her in the stroller.

"Aren't we just being a silly baby today?" I coo as I fasten her in

"Silly babies?" Beck exclaims from somewhere behind me, making me jump a little "Those are my favorite kind!"

"Hi Uncle Beck."

"Hi kiddo! Thanks for coming!" He smiles to the baby, taking his hat off and placing in on her head, tilting it down so her eyes are covered "Hey that's a good look for you!"

Audrey grins and places both of her hands on her head. She knows she wants the hat off, but she's not quite sure how to make it happen.

"Ew Uncle Beck!" I say in a baby voice to speak for my daughter "Your hat is all sweaty and stinky, take it back!"

"Fine." He chuckles, taking the hat off her and putting it back on his own head "Where are we going for dinner?"

"Inside out burger." Jade tells him, standing up on her tiptoes and kissing his cheek "Good game babe, what I saw of it at least."

"Thanks." He smiles down at her, then kisses her for real

"Oh get a room." Andre groans as he walks past them and does the same to Tori

"Andre don't by hypocritical." Lydia chuckles

Andre only rolls his eyes.

Audrey reaches her arms up to him and makes a few baby noises, obviously looking for attention.

"Sorry kid, no can do." He tells her "After I shower okay?"

"You guys should get on that." Tori suggests "Everybody here is starving."

"Alright. Beck let's go." He nods towards the school "We'll be out in hopefully under a half hour."

"Sounds good."

The field and bleachers start to clear out except for our group of friends. I push Audrey back and forth in her stroller gently, as I scroll through my phone looking at my Twitter feed. Eventually though, she starts to fuss.

"Yeah I know." I sigh bending down to pick her up "It's dinner time for you, isn't it? Hang on..."

"Do you have a bottle for her?" Robbie asks me

"Yes." I sigh "I'm not _that_ forgetful."

"Just checking." He holds his hands up in surrender as I pull the bottle out of the diaper bag

"Here." Lydia offers, holding her arms out "I can do it."

"Um..." I hesitate, Robbie shoots me a look "Yeah sure...uh...thank you."

I hand the baby over, along with the bottle.

I know Lydia feeding her shouldn't make me nervous, but for some reason it does. I just hope Andre and Beck shower and change quickly so we can leave.


	38. Chapter 38

_Cat's POV_

"What part of 'I don't want to' are you not getting?"

"Don't raise your voice, Cat." My mother says calmly "It won't help the situation any."

"Mom." I say flatly "I'm 18, I have a baby, I'm practically an adult. Why do I have to go?"

"Because I'm still your mother and I say so." She laughs, causing me to groan and continue my way up stairs "Cat..."

"Mom..."

"Come on." She sighs "It's just one dinner."

"I don't have anybody to watch Audrey." I try to argue

"I'll watch her." She tells me "She'll be asleep anyways. Come on Cat, you need to start making some towards of progress with him."

My father had finally figured out a way to basically force me into spending time with him, and that was to go to my mother. He had called her at work and told her he wanted to take me out to dinner tonight, just the two of us. Of course, my mom had said that I would love to. He's picking me up at eight and taking me to some fancy restaurant. I'm not allowed to drive myself, because everyone is afraid I won't show up. I won't lie, I might've tried it.

"I don't want to make progress with him!" I groan, picking Audrey up out of her baby swing "Look at her Mom! Look! He wanted to do everything in his power to get rid of her!"

"So did you at one point." She reminds me

"No stop!" I beg "Don't remind me please. I had a change of heart as soon as I got the facts! He has the facts and is still embarrassed by her!"

"I'm not arguing with you anymore, Cat." My mom says "It's only four thirty, get some play time in, start getting her ready for bed, get yourself ready, and I can finish up whatever you don't okay?"

"Fine." I roll my eyes

"Thank you." She turns to leave the room.

"You're on my side aren't you?" I ask Audrey, holding her in front of me so we're eye to eye

She grins at me and kicks her legs in the air.

"Yeah that's what I thought." I smile, sitting down on the floor of the nursery with her "Will you try sitting up for Mommy? Please?"

She can hold her head up now, and she can roll over too, so naturally, sitting up would come next. She should be able to sometime between four and seven months, and even though she's only a few days over four months, I feel like it's worth a shot to try anyways. She's still small enough she might not be able to, but I'm optimistic.

I spread a blanket out on the floor with a few toys and sit her down, supporting her for a fews seconds before I let go.

Audrey's eyes grow wide as she tips backwards, falling onto her back, resulting in a fit of tears.

"Oh Audrey baby..." I coo, picking her up and letting her rest her head against my shoulder "You're okay."

The floor in her room is carpet, and she was on a blanket, so I'm guessing the fall scared her more than it hurt her.

"Okay..." I whisper, rubbing her back "I think we're done with the sitting up for a while...shhh baby girl, it's okay."

I stand up and walk her around the room for a while, stopping at her window to let her look outside, even though there's not that much for her to look at, until her sobs turn into the occasional sniffle, her small hands clutching the back of my shirt.

"See?" I kiss the side of her head as I sway side to side gently "I told you you were okay..."

She hiccups, jumping in my arms slightly.

"Silly girl..." I smile "Come on, let's start your bath."

"Audrey Renee!" I chuckle as I try to put clothes on the squirming baby "Get your foot out of your mouth! I'm happy your flexible and all, but toes are not for eating!"

I gently push her leg down to where it should be resting and slide her into her pajamas.

"There we go!" I smile, picking her up "All ready for bed!"

She smiles and rests her head against my shoulder.

"Yeah somebody is a tired little girl, isn't she?"

"Cat." My mom appears in the doorway "Your dad is out front."

"Alright..." I sigh "Here Audrey, go to Grandma."

"What does she still need?" My mom asks as I hand her over

"Just her before-bed bottle and she's good." I tell her "Bye Aud! I love you! See you I'm the morning okay? Sweet dreams."

I kiss her forehead and my mom moves out of the way so I can go downstairs.

"Have fun!" She calls to me

"I doubt it!" I call back.

Once I'm downstairs, I grab my purse off the banister, slide into my heels, and exit the house, closing the door quietly behind me.

"Hi." My dad greets me as I climb into the passenger seat of his car

"Hi." I sigh

"How was school?"

"Fine."

"How's the baby?"

"She's good."

I think he's sensing he's not going to get anywhere, so he puts the car in gear and backs out of the driveway.

The entire ride to the restaurant is silent and awkward. Especially since I'm not sure how to work the radio in his car.

We don't even say anything to each other until we're in the buildings, seated, and have ordered.

"You're going to have to talk to me sometime." He tells me "You can't be silent forever."

"I'm not being silent. I'm being militant. There's a difference."

"Yeah well I'm not sure I appreciate it." He sighs "I'm making an effort to fix this and you're just being childish."

"You've made zero effort!" I laugh

"Cat. I paid for all your doctors appointments." He reminds me "I bought you a car. I pay for your school. I'll be paying for your college. I brought you to a nice restaurant..."

"So you're buying me back?" I ask "Or at least attempting to? It's not working by the way."

"I've noticed..."

"Dad. I'm not one of your clients or one of your co-workers." I say "You can't just throw a bunch of money in my face and expect everything to be okay."

"Is how you think I operate?" He asks "You knew what...alright fine. At least we're talking. This is good."

"Mhm...sure."

"Cat, I'm trying to show you I care." He tells me "Isn't that enough?"

"You're not doing it in the right way..." I frown "Again, you need to do more than just try to buy me back."

"Like what?"

"I don't know!" I exclaim "You could start by showing some interest in my life besides the things that effect you."

"I care about your life!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes!"

"What's my favorite color?" I narrow my eyes at him

"Red."

"No." I laugh "Just because my hair is red doesn't make it my favorite color...it's pink."

"That what's going to be my second guess!"

"Sure."

"Do you know mine?" He asks

"Green."

"Lucky guess."

"No." I say "I actually pay attention when you talk."

"I wish you would talk to me more..." He admits

"Dad." I sigh "You asked me to abort my daughter. And when I wouldn't, you made me disappear from your life. I have every right to be mad at you."

"I wish I could undo my actions, sweetheart. I do. I was being selfish."

"Yeah you were." I agree

"I'm willing to work on this if you are." He says

"I'll only meet you halfway, Dad." I tell him "You have to meet me. Okay?"

"Fine." He holds his hands up

"Don't expect a perfect father-daughter relationship anytime soon either." I add "You hurt me bad. I need a lot of time."

"That's fair enough, I guess."


	39. Chapter 39

Cat's POV

"I'm totally capable of putting a high chair together."

"No." Charlie tells me

"Yeah, we got it." Robbie agrees

"Then why has it been an hour and a half with zero progress?" I ask

"Because these instructions are...not specific." Charlie sighs

He and Robbie sit with the various pieces to Audrey's new high chair strewn around them on the floor in the living room. Audrey lays on a blanket a few feet away from them, watching intently, playing with a rattle every so often when she gets bored. However, her attention always returns to her father and her uncle.

She squeals, trying to communicate something none of us understand.

"That's right Aud." I smile "You tell em."

She squeals again, kicking her legs in a frog like motion this time, because she's laying down.

"Alright." I sigh, grabbing the laundry basket next to me "I'll be back."

"Ah-ga!" Audrey shrieks

"Don't worry baby." I call to her as I exit the room "I'm coming back!"

I exit the living room and move upstairs to put my laundry away, along with some of Audrey's as well.

Actually, it's mostly Audrey's. She goes through at least two outfits a day, and with her starting on baby food soon instead of just her regular formula bottles, I can only guess that number will grow.

When all of our laundry is put away, I go into my room and change into a grey, red and white plaid flannel shirt and a pair of light wash denim cutoffs.

A friend of my mom's had offered to do baby portraits for Audrey for crazy cheap, so Robbie and I both jumped at the opportunity. We're going today since it's a rare opportunity when we're both off work.

I return downstairs to find the boys have made no progress on the high chair whatsoever. So I walk over to Audrey, picking her up and resting her on my hip.

"Robbie are you ready to go?" I ask

"Yeah." He stands up "Good luck Charlie."

"Thanks." Charlie rolls his eyes "When will you be back?"

"I dunno." I shrug "By dinner for sure."

"Alright, bye, have fun, be safe, don't talk to strangers blah blah blah..." He waves us off

"Bye." I laugh turning to exit, grabbing the diaper bag off the kitchen table on my way out.

"Am I driving?" Robbie asks, sliding his shoes on

"Well you're parked behind me." I shrug "So unless you want to drive separate..."

"I can drive." He tells me as we walk out "Uhm Cat?"

"Yeah?"

"Shoes?" He gives me a questionable look, pointing down at my bare feet

"Oh shhhh-" I stop myself from swearing in front of Audrey "Can you go inside and grab my black converse? They're right by the door. I'll put her in the car."

"Sure." He turns over his shoulder, going back into the house

"Audrey." I giggle as I open the back door of Robbie's car "You almost let Mommy leave without shoes, silly girl."

She grins up at me as I buckle her into her car seat.

"Silly girl." I repeat, kissing her forehead

"These?" Robbie asks, approaching me holding up my shoes

"Yup!" I smile, taking them from him as I slam the car door shut "Thanks."

"No problem." He spins his keys in his hand "She all good to go?"

"She sure is!" I tell him "Let's go!"

* * *

"Come on Audrey..." The photographer, my Mom's friend Jeni, coos "Gimme a big smile."

She sits in one of those plastic Bumbo chairs, since she can't sit up on her own yet, playing with a plastic letter A. She's in a white sundress with pink polka dots. As usual, she grins from ear to ear.

"Aw look at you!" Jeni smiles "Such a happy little girl!"

"She always is." Robbie tells her

We had agreed to do three sets of pictures. Some individuals of just Audrey, some of her with Robbie, and some of her with me.

"Okay. Who's going first?" Jeni asks "Mom or Dad?"

"He can go." I nod towards Robbie "I still have to finish my make up."

"Figures." Robbie chuckles, bending down to grab his drawstring backpack he brought with him "I have to go change first, I'll be right back."

"You have to change?" I laugh "Come on, I just came in the outfit I wanted to wear!"

"Yeah well I didn't." He says, pulling something out of his bag "Here, can you put this on her?"

He throws a white onesie with the University of Arizona logo on it.

"Sure." I sigh, walking over to the backdrop and picking Audrey up out of the seat

"Thanks." He tells me and disappears

"Silly Daddy." I chuckle, sitting down with Audrey to change her "Should've been ready to go!"

"University of Arizona?" Jeni asks, looking over my shoulder at the onesie "Is he a fan?"

"He's going to school there in the fall." I tell her "He's very proud of it."

"Good to go!" Robbie announces, re-entering the room in jeans and a red long sleeved University of Arizona dry-fit shirt

"See?" I laugh

"Come here Aud!" He coos, reaching down to pick the baby up

She smiles and giggles as he spins her around, making their way back to the backdrop.

As I grab the diaper bag from where it had been sitting underneath one of the chairs in the studio and pull my makeup case out of it, I can't help but smile at how much Audrey absolutely adores her father.

Jeni takes lots of pictures of them, only a few of which I actually catch happening because I'm working on my makeup, but there's some of him holding her in the air above his head, and of her sitting on his lap, playing with a toy. My favorite is the one where she grabs his glasses right off his face. She's absolutely precious.

When they're done with their pictures, Robbie hands her back to me and then goes to change back into the outfit he came in, while I change Audrey into the outfit I picked for her.

It's a light blue onesie that says "My Heart Belongs to Mommy" in pink letters with matching pink leggings and socks.

"Alright bugga boo." I kiss the top of her head as I sit down "We're almost done, just hang in there for a little while longer and keep on smilin' okay?"

"Alright now if I could have you hold her up so you're nose to nose..." Jeni instructs "Perfect! Keep smiling!"

We take a few like that. A few of her laying on my chest. My absolute favorites though are the ones where I'm standing up, holding her arms so she can stand too. I smile down at her, she smiles up at me. It's adorable. That, or the ones where her hands are in mine, showing the size comparison.

Robbie leans against the wall behind the camera, watching us the entire time.

"Alright." Jeni eventually tells me "I think we got a lot of really good shots."

"Okay." I smile, starting to stand up "Thank you so much!"

"You don't want one of all three of you?"

"Uhhhh..." I look at Robbie

"I don't know do we?" He shrugs

I think for a moment.

"Yeah let's do one." I motion for him to come sit next to us

When she's older, Audrey should have a picture of us as a family. I want her to know that Robbie and I, although we were never actually together, were friends. We never hated each other, and we both love her more than words can express.

I put Audrey on my lap, and Robbie kneels behind me, his hands on my shoulders. We all smile and Jeni snaps the picture.

When Jeni gives me the CD with all the pictures on it, I download this one, edit it to be black and white and it becomes the new background on my phone.


	40. Chapter 40

_Cat's POV _

"Alright ladies." Mary enters the main part of the store, waving a twenty dollar bill above her head "You know what time it is."

11:30 on a Saturday? Time for one of us to make a coffee run.

"Cat's turn." Annie says, not even looking up from the magazine she's reading

"Nuh-uh!" I exclaim "I went last time."

"I went for five weeks while you were on maternity leave!"

"Look, I don't care who does it." Mary places the bill down on the counter and turns to go back to her office "I just want my coffee."

"I've been back at work for almost three months." I tell Annie "You can't keep playing the maternity leave card!"

The door to the store opens and a customer walks in. A women in her earlier twenties maybe.

"Hi! Welcome to Maggie's! How can I help you?" Annie exclaims walking over to her "I'll take a caramel frappechino please, Cat."

I roll my eyes and grab the money off the counter, sticking it in my pocket as I walk out the door. The nearest Jet Vroom is right down the block, the walk is bearable, but still. Getting coffee is such a hassle, especially when they're busy.

Thankfully, today they're not. I get through line in less than ten minutes, and after ordering , I stand aside to wait.

"Alright!" The barista calls out "I got two medium caramel frappechinos and a large latte!"

"Oh!" I raise my hand "That's me!"

"Here you go." He pushes the drinks across the counter to me "Have a nice day."

"Thanks." I tell him, putting the drinks into one of those cardboard carriers "You too."

But he doesn't hear me, by now he's already turned his attention to the next customer.

Whatever, I tried to be nice.

"Extra large latte, hold the whip!" Another barista calls out

I pick up my tray of drinks and turn around, running smack into the customer picking up the next drink, spilling coffee everywhere, and all over both of us.

"Ah!" He exclaims, jumping a little "Yeah, Mac? I'm gonna have to call you back..."

"Oh my god!" I tell him "I'm so sorry! Here let me help you!"

I grab a few napkins off the counter.

"Nah don't worry about it." He sticks his cell phone in his pocket "It's my fault. I should've warned you I I was behind you before you turned around."

"Still." I sigh "Gosh this is a really nice shirt too, I'm sorry."

"It's my roommate's." He shrugs "Not really a big deal."

He's dressed in a pair of dress pants and a nice button down shirt with shiny black dress shoes, he looks maybe a year or two older than me.

"At least let me pay for your drink..." I offer

"Are you always this nice?" He raises an eyebrow "Really, it's not necessary."

"But I feel terrible." I admit

"You really wanna make it up to me?" He asks

I nod.

"I'll tel you what..." He smiles "You can make it up to me by letting me buy you dinner tonight."

"Alright." I smirk "Deal."

* * *

"What's the emergency?" Jade asks, as she bursts into my bedroom, Tori close behind her

"I have a date tonight!" I shriek

"Oh my god!" Tori exclaims "Details now!"

She sits down on my bed, while Jade bends down and scoops Audrey up off her blanket, then sits down next to her.

"Well..." I smile, pulling out my desk chair and sitting down "Okay. His name is Jack. He's a freshman at UCLA, majoring in criminal justice."

"Is he cute?" Tori raises an eyebrow

"So cute!"

"How'd you meet him?" Jade asks "I mean, I doubt he was in Maggie's browsing for jeans."

"I spilled coffee all over him at Jet Vroom." I tell them "I spilled coffee all over his really nice dress clothes, which were his roommate's apparently, and I said I felt really bad. He told me I could make it up to him by letting him by me dinner tonight. We're meeting at Ferrari's at eight!"

"He's taking to a pizza place?"

"A oak-wood oven pizza place." I inform her "He told me he would've taken me for lunch but I had to work and he had a seminar to go to."

"Oh a seminar." Tori smirks "Sounds all official."

"Did you tell him about Audrey?"

"Yeah about Audrey..." I sigh

"You didn't tell him did you?"

"No." I admit "And I also need you guys to babysit tonight."

They're about to object when I cut them off.

"Guys please!" I beg "This is my first date in a year."

"Holden?"

"He doesn't count!" I roll my eyes "Please?"

"Fine." Jade sighs

"Yeah." Tori agrees "Drop her off at my house, we'll watch her..."

"Oh my gosh thank you!" I squeal "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"There better be a second date." Jade laughs "That's all I have to say about that."

* * *

"So your friends were trapped in an RV for hours in the hundred degree heat and you had absolutely no idea?" Jack laughs "How?"

"I was a little preoccupied." I chuckle

"Surfers?"

"Maybe." I smirk, taking a sip of my drink "I found them eventually though, everything was okay."

"Good." He laughs "That's good. You know Cat, you're pretty funny."

"Thanks." I blush "You're not half bad yourself."

"Why thank you." He tells me "So tell me. How is such a funny, talented, charismatic girl like yourself single?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I smirk

"I would actually."

My phone starts buzzing on the table next to me. I almost send it to voicemail, but when I see Tori's face on my caller ID, I decide to answer, just in case something is wrong with the baby.

"Sorry." I apologize standing up "I need to take this, it might be an emergency."

"No go ahead." He tells me "I'll be here."

"Thanks. It should only be a minute." I tell him, walking away as I answer "Tori this had better be important."

"We got her to sit up!" Tori exclaims "All by herself! No help from anyone or anything?"

"What?"

"Yeah!" She tells me "We gave her a bath and then got her dressed and set her down on the floor to play. We kinda forgot she couldn't sit up on her own, but by the time we remembered, well, she was sitting on her own!"

"My baby!" I gasp "Give her a big kiss for me and tell her I love her okay?"

My little girl is growing up so fast.

"Absolutely." Tori agrees

"Send me a picture too, please!" I say "And call Robbie and let him know too, he'll be over the moon."

"Every god damn milestone and the kid gets a fucking parade." I hear Jade laugh in the background

"And tell Jade to stop swearing in front of my kid, please!"

"Alright." Tori chuckles "I'll let you get back to your date, I just thought you'd want to know."

"Thank you. I should be there in an hour and a half or so." I tell her "Bye."

"Bye."

I hang up and make my way back to the table.

"Is everything okay?" Jack asks as I approach

"Yeah." I sit back down "Yeah...everything is fine."

"So not an emergency?"

"No not really." I laugh "It was good news actually."

"Care to share?"

"I'm not sure if it's first date information or not,"

"Ah." He smiles "So you think there's gonna be a second date, huh?"

"Well yeah I was hoping so." I shrug

"Good, because I was just about to ask you what you were doing Friday."

"My Friday is wide open." I smile

"Then how does a movie date sound to you?" He asks

"Perfect."I grin "Jack...wait..."

"Is something wrong?"

He has a concerned look on his face.

"No, no nothing is wrong!" I exclaim "I just...I haven't told you everything..."

"It's the first date." He laughs "You don't have to tell me everything."

"No I know. But if we're going to be seeing each other, you should know this..." I take a deep breath "I...I have a daughter..."

The look on his face is hard to read, so I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.

"Jack?"

"What? Yeah no sorry." He apologizes "You were afraid to tell me that? Why?"

"Like I said...not usually something to bring up on the first date." I admit "That usually scares guys away."

"Well it's not gonna scare me away." He takes my hand across the table "I admire you actually, it takes a lot of work to raise a baby."

"Believe me, I know..." I laugh

"Her dad..." He sighs "What's the deal with him?"

"He's around." I tell him "But we aren't together, obviously. We never were actually...it's sort of a long story."

"Not first date information?" He laughs

"Yeah." I chuckle "Something like that."


	41. Chapter 41

_Cat's POV _

"Look at you baby girl!" I coo "You're sitting up! All by yourself!"

Audrey grins at me and begins kicking her legs, tipping her off balance and causing her to fall over.

"Whoops!" I smile, sitting her back up "I guess we're still practicing, huh?"

When I had picked her up last night, she had been fast asleep in Jade's arms, so we hadn't been able to give sitting up another try. However, now that she's awake and happy we're free to play all we want.

"Well this is new." My mom chuckles, leaning against the doorframe "How long has she been able to sit up?"

"Since last night." I tell her, tickling the baby's tummy "When she was over playing with Aunt Tori and Aunt Jade."

"Good for you Audrey." She smiles as the doorbell rings "I better go get that."

I turn my attention back to my daughter, who has now busied herself playing with a set of plastic keys.

"You got your keys there?" I smirk "Like Mommy's?"

She clutches the keys to her chest, smiling at me.

"Don't worry!" I throw my hands up in surrender "I'm not going to take them!"

"Hi Princess!" Robbie exclaims, entering the room

Audrey grins ear to ear, giggling and dropping her toy to extend her arms up to her Daddy.

"Hey." I greet him, slightly surprised "I didn't know you were stopping by today."'

"Yeah sorry." He apologizes "I was going to call but I wants sure if you'd be awake or not."

It's 10:45.

"So it's too early to call, but not too early to stop by?" I raise an eyebrow "Alright..."

"Whatever." He rolls his eyes "Hey Aud! I hear you have something new to show me!"

He sets her back down on her blanket, and she stays sitting up.

"Look at that!" He grins "You're getting to be so grown up!"

He kneels down and shrugs his backpack off. After unzipping it, he pulls out a grey, plush elephant toy that appears to be super soft and fuzzy.

"Here sweetheart." He hands it to her "Daddy bought you this."

She looks at it questionably for a second, before smiling and hugging it to her chest.

She starts playing with Robbie, so I stand up and grab my phone off her changing table. I have three new text messages. One from Tori, letting me know that I forgot one of Audrey's pacifiers at her house last night, which isn't that big of a deal, seeing as she has dozens of them, and two from Jack.

Hey. I had a really fun time last night:) 

Can't wait for Friday night!

I can't help but smile as I type out my response.

Same here!:) I'll call you later?

"What's got you so smiley?" Robbie asks

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I smirk, sticking my phone back in my pocket

"Aw come on Cat." He teases "You're texting a boy."

"How do you know?"

"Because you're getting all giddy and you're blushing." He says matter-of-factly "Which only happens, when you text boys you have romantic interest in. So what's his name?"

"It's Jack..." I smile "We went out for dinner last night."

"So that's why Tori and Jade had Audrey last night." He laughs

"How'd you know they had Audrey?"

"Snapchat." He laughs "But you know I have to meet this boy, right?"

"No you don't." I shake my head

"As the male best friend..." He laughs "I'm entitled to meet and approve of the boyfriends. Especially if they might end up playing step-father to my daughter."

"Woah woah woah!" I stop him "Who said anything about him being her step-father?"'

"I said might." He reminds me "You never know."

"I just met the guy yesterday!" I laugh "I'm not even thinking about that yet!"

"So you're not doodling 'Mrs. Cat Whatever-His-Last-Name-Is' all over your notebooks yet?"

"When would I have even had the time?" I chuckle "And his last name is Laughlin."

"Caterina Laughlin." Robbie smirks "Has a nice ring to it..."

"If Audrey wasn't here, I'd flick you off."

* * *

"So are you a Dodgers fan?" I ask "Or are you one of those traitors who hopped on the Angels bandwagon?"

"Actually..." Jack chuckles "I prefer the Giants. I grew up in a suburb of San Francisco."

"It wasn't Woodside, was it?"

"No. East Bay, actually." He laughs "Why? You have something against Woodside?"

"Nah." I shrug "I dated a guy who was from there, total jerk."

"Ah well, I can assure you I'm not a jerk." He tells me

"Well I would hope not." I smile "Nobody wants to go out with a jerk."

"Well it's a good thing you're not then."

Audrey squeals from her spot on her blanket.

"Just a second Jack." I say removing my phone from my ear "What's wrong baby girl?"

"Ah-ba!"She frowns, extending her arms to me

"Alright." I sigh, walking over to her and picking her up, along with her blanket

We exit my bedroom and go into hers. I sit down in her rocking chair and leg her lay her head against my chest, covering her up with the blanket as I push the chair back and forth with my foot.

"Sorry." I apologize when I'm back on the phone again "The baby needed me."

"I don't mind." He tells me "I get it, she's probably the most important thing in the world to you, right?"

I glance down at Audrey, who's eyes are starting to become heavy as she drifts off to sleep.

"Yeah." I smile "Yeah, she is."


	42. Chapter 42

_Cat's POV _

"Ah-ba!" Audrey exclaims from the backseat

I glance up in the rear view mirror quickly to check on her. She's still facing backwards, so I cat see much, but I see enough to know she's fine.

"Whatcha doin, Aud?" I ask her as I turn into Robbie's subdivision

I hear her giggle and I look up again to see her kicking her legs.

"Yeah?" I chuckle as we approach Robbie's townhouse "You little goofball."

I pull into his driveway and shut the ignition off. I grab the diaper bag out of the passenger seat next to me and hop out to retrieve Audrey. I take her out and rest her on my hip, slamming the door closed with my foot.

"You're gonna be good for Daddy this weekend, right bug?" I ask her, walking up the front walk and knocking on the door

"Just a second!" A voice calls from inside

A few seconds later, Robbie's mom opens the door.

"Oh!" She looks surprised "Hi Cat. Come on in."

"Thanks..." I say a little awkwardly as I step inside "Did Robbie not tell you I was dropping Audrey off tonight?"

"No he did." She nods "I was just expecting the girlfriend first is all."

"Lydia?" I laugh

"Yes." She rolls her eyes

"Aw she's not so bad."

"No she's a terribly sweet girl. She's just here _all the time_." She sighs "Hi Audrey."

Audrey looks at her questionably then hides her face in my shoulder.

"Aw Aud." I bounce her "Don't be shy. It's just grandma."

"Oh jeez, I hate the sound of that. Makes me sound so old." She scoffs "ROBERT CAMERON! COME DOWN HERE AND GET YOUR DAUGHTER!"

"I said I would be down as soon as my paper finished printing." Robbie says, sounding slightly annoyed as he comes downstairs "Hi Audrey baby!"

A grin spreads across Audrey's face when she sees who the voice belongs too. She leans forwards out of my arms, trying to get to him.

"Hi." He smiles, taking her and snuggling her to him "I missed you."

"Well, I'm going to go start dinner." His mom announces, leaving the room

"Sorry." He apologizes once she's gone "She's in a mood."

"She's fine." I assure him "It's fine, really."

"She's pissed at me." He sighs

"Why?"

"I'm trying to contact my father." He explains "I want him to come to graduation."

"No offense." I tell him "But why? He walked out on you."

"I just want him to know I'm not a complete failure." He shrugs as Audrey starts to squirm "Audrey, what's gotten into you?"

"Ah-ah!" Audrey whines, leaning forward towards the diaper bag that's still sling over my shoulder

"What is it baby?" I ask her "Oh I think I know...hang on."

I open the bag and pull out her stuffed elephant.

"Is this what you want?" I hand it to her

She snatches it from me and flaps her free hand excitedly, trying to show her father her toy.

"Oh you're elephant." He chuckles

"Ellie."

"What?"

"The elephant." I clarify "Her name is Ellie."

"Good to know."

"Well." I sigh "This has been fun, but I've gotta get going, I have a date tonight."

"Ooh." Robbie smirks "With Jack?"

"No with Harry Styles." I say sarcastically "Yes, with Jack."

"Hear that Aud? Mommy has a date tonight!" Robbie whispers to the baby "With a college boy!"

"Oh shut up." I smack his arm before leaning down to say goodbye to Audrey "Bye bye baby girl, have fun with Daddy okay? But be good!"

I kiss her cheek then turn to leave.

"You know how to get ahold of me." I remind Robbie as I step out the door

"That's right." He follows me "Have fun tonight."

"I will, thank you."

"Not too much fun though." He teases me from the doorway "Audrey doesn't need any siblings."

"You know," I yell to him as I approach my car "This is another instances where I'd flick you off if the kid wasn't here!"

"Bye Mommy!" He picks up Audrey's arm and waves it back and forth

"Bye!" I wave

* * *

"Hey Cat?" Chelsea says as she enters my bedroom "Oh! You look nice!"

I'm wearing a black tank top with a black skirt that has a pink floral print all over it with matching pink vans.

"Thank you." I tell her as I apply the finishing touches to my make up "Is this even?"

"Turn."

I turn my head towards her so she can look.

"Sure is." She smiles "Looks great."

"You obviously didn't come in here to check my make up." I laugh "What's up?"

"I was going to ask if you wanted to get mani/pedis tonight," She tells me "But it looks like you already have plans."

"I do..." I smirk "I have a date."

"With Robbie?"

"No!" I groan "With Jack!"

"Who's Jack?" She asks "Is he new?"

"I met him last weekend." I explain "He's taking me to a movie and them we'll go from there..."

"Your age?"

"A year older."

"Is he picking you up or are you meeting him there?"

"He's picking me up." I smile

"Does your father know?"

"Hell no."

There's a knock at the door.

"I'll get it!" My father yells from the other room

"Okay!" Chelsea yells back to him "So this Jack guy, you like him, yeah?"

"Yeah." I blush

"Look at that smile." She chuckles "So adorable."

"Caterina." My father appears at the doorway "There's...um...there's a boy here for you."

"He's here?" I ask "Like in the apartment?"

He nods.

"Shit." I mutter to myself, grabbing my purse and going to the kitchen

Jack was supposed to text me when he was here and I'd meet him outside. Not come upstairs and meet my father.

"Hi Jack!" I greet him

"Hi!" He grins "Wow, you look beautiful."

"Thanks."

He's wearing a nice button down shirt, a tie, jeans, and black converse.

"These are for you." He hands me a bouquet of white and pink lilies

"Oh they're gorgeous." I gasp "Thank you so much."

"Here, I'll get those in some water." Chelsea says, coming up behind me

"Thank you." I whisper to her

"No problem."

"So." My father clears his throat "What's your name, son?"

"Jack." Jack smiles, extending his hand to shake my father's "Jack Laughlin."

"Laughlin..." My father looks like he's thinking hard "Is your dad in the law business?"

"No." Jack shakes his head "But Laughlin is a common name."

"I suppose so..." He sighs "So, you're taking my daughter out?"

"Daddy." I groan

"If that's alright with you sir, yes."

"Her curfew is midnight." He tells him

"I'll have her home by 11:30."

"Alright..." My dad raises an eyebrow "Go on before I change my mind."

"You heard him." I tell Jack "Let's go."

"Nice to meet you both!" Jack says as I pull him out the door

"I thought you were going to text me when you got here?" I ask as we wait for the elevator

"I was." He shrugs "But then I thought about it. I was thinking, if it were my daughter, would I want her going out with some mystery kid I've never met? Or would I feel safer if he came in and introduced himself? You know, proved he wasn't a criminal."

"Why are you such a nice guy?" I laugh

"I dunno." He's shrugs, grinning "Just how I am, I guess."

* * *

"I couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like to be in that kind of a situation." Jack says sympathetically "I'm so sorry."

"It's whatever." I shrug "We're working on it."

I had just finished explaining to him the 'arrangement' my father had put in place when I told him I was pregnant with Audrey. Personally, I thought it was too much for the second date, but he had brought it up. And when I told him it was a long story, he insisted we had the time.

Now we walk, hand in hand, around the small almost mini-mall of shops that surrounds the movie theater we had just come out of.

"Okay." I smile "My turn to ask a question."

"Ask away." He smiles back

I'm honestly not sure what to ask him, seeing as his have been so deep, and I can't think of anything on that level.

"A what's your family like?"

"Well." He begins "Mom is a teacher, dad works in sales. My older brother goes to university of Iowa, he's about to graduate, and my little brother is a sophomore in high school."

"All boys?"

"All boys." He chuckles "Made life interesting."

"I can only imagine." I laugh

"Okay. My turn."

"Fine." I roll my eyes

"Tell me about the baby daddy."

"Oh jeez..."

"You said it was a second date type of question." He reminds me "This is the second date."

"Yeah, I know." I sigh "Okay, let's see. Welp. He was, still kinda is, my best guy friend. We went to a party at school and somebody spiked the punch. Typical right? Apparently we had a little too much and we ended up back at his place. I wasn't on birth control and he was too drunk to use a condom, so yeah. That's it."

"So he's a nice guy?"

"A very nice guy." I tell him "He adores our daughter, he'd do anything for her."

"Aubrey, right?"

"Audrey." I correct him "Audrey Renee."

"Pretty name." He smiles

We continue to walk along in silence for a while before he just stops walking altogether.

"You okay?" I ask him

"Yeah." He shrugs "Just thinking."

"About?"

"About how much fun I had with you tonight." He smirks

"I had a lot if fun too." I smile

He pulls me towards him and wraps his arms around my waist and I feel my heart flutter. My stomach does a flip.

"I was also thinking..." He whispers "Maybe...maybe you could be my girlfriend."

"I'd like that." I bite my lip

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." I giggle

And there in the middle of the sidewalk, on a Friday night in the beginning of May, just over a year after I found out I was pregnant, Jack reminds me how wonderful it feels to be kissed.


	43. Chapter 43

**_Hi everyone, sorry for the lack of updates these past few days...I've had some issues in my personal life I've been dealing with since earlier this week and will more than likely have to continue to deal with for the next few days as well. Not to worry, I'm 100% fine. Hopefully updates will be back to normal by Friday or Saturday night (more than likely Saturday though, sorry). However, I have this quick little update to hold y'all over until then. It's not that long and it's not really all that great but it's something. Thank you all for understanding. XOXO._**

* * *

_Cat's POV _

"Yeah but he finishes finals and then what?" Tori asks, tossing one of Audrey's shirts towards me "He goes back to San Francisco until his classes start again."

"He has an apartment here." I tell her, folding the shirt and putting it away "He's not going home until Thanksgiving."

"You got lucky." Jade singsongs "Is he coming to graduation?"

"I would assume so." I shrug "I dunno, we haven't really talked about it."

"Well he should." Tori says "I want to meet him."

"Same here."

"We've only been officially 'dating' for a week guys." I laugh "You'll meet him eventually, I promise."

"Preferably before you get married." Jade requests

"Where on earth did you get that idea?" I ask

"Robbie loves teasing you about it." She smirks "What? Come on Cat, laugh. It's funny!"

"Whatever." I roll my eyes

"Hey." Robbie enters the nursery, Audrey in his hip "We're back. You're mom let me in."

"How was the doctor?" I take Audrey from him "Hi baby!"

"She's healthy." He tells me "Still in the lower percentiles for height and weight, but the doctor said it's not anything to worry about yet. She's fine."

"That's what I like to hear!" I smile, bouncing the baby around some, making her laugh "Hey Robbie?"

"Yeah?"

"Teasing me about marrying Jack behind my back I hear?"

"_Jade_!"

"Oops." She shrugs

"I don't actually care." I tell him, setting Audrey down to play with a toy "Tease all you want."

"I intend to." He laughs "Oh! While I have my three best girls all in the same room!"

"Oh this can't be good." Tori rolls her eyes

"I refuse to answer another sex question." Jade says flatly "You can ask Beck or Andre."

"Man you are really not good at keeping secrets." He shakes his head

"I knew Cat was pregnant before you did."

"For like three days!" I scoff

"Anyway!" Robbie pulls us back on subject "My and Lydia's one year is coming up next weekend."

"And?"

"And I wanna run my plans by you guys to see if...I don't know, if I'm on the right track."

"Okay." I shrug "Shoot."

"Well I rented a hotel room in Long Beach for two nights." He tells us "I got us tickets to this play that has apparently gotten really great reviews, and I got us reservations at the best restaurant in town."

He gives us a questionable look, waiting for approval.

"Does she know any of this is happening?" Tori asks "Or is it all a surprise?"

"All a surprise." He smirks

"Perfect. She'll love it." I tell him "Wait, you said this is next weekend?"

"Yup."

"Robbie!" I exclaim "That's your weekend!"

"Shit. That's right." He mutters "Okay, no big deal. We can just switch. I'll take her this weekend instead."

"That's not how the custody agreement works, Robbie."

"We don't have a custody agreement." He looks at me, confused

"Not custody of Audrey, doofus." I roll my eyes "Custody of _me_! _My_ parents!"

"Well I can't take her to Long Beach with me!" He insists "There's absolutely nothing romantic about your daughter being in the room the first time you do it with your girlfriend."

"Nice word choice."

"Thanks. I actually thought about it before I said it." He sighs "Just take her to your Dad's!"

"Robbie!"

"Well we're gonna go..." Tori says

"Yeah see you guys in the morning." Jade adds, following Tori as they both quickly scamper out of the room

"Look Cat." Robbie turns to me "He has to meet her eventually. It's not like he'll try to physically hurt her or anything. And if for some reason he does say anything, she's too little to understand or remember."

"Well it's not like I have many other options." I sigh, plopping down on the floor next Audrey "Looks like you're staying at Grandpa's with Mommy next weekend, baby girl."

* * *

_"Oh, don't you dare look back._

_Just keep your eyes on me._

_I said, You're holding back,_

_She said, Shut up and dance with me!_

_This woman is my destiny_

_She said, Oh, oh, oh,_

_Shut up and dance with me_." I sing to Audrey as I give her a bath

She giggles and kicks her legs, sending water everywhere, including all over me.

"Silly girl." I laugh, shaking my head "Whatever, I'm showering later anyway."

She coos and looks up at me with her two big, still blue, eyes.

"Hi sweetie." I whisper "Look, don't worry about going to Grandpa's next weekend at all. Hopefully he's gotten over himself by now and won't be awful."

She's not paying attention anymore, more focused on the rubber duck floating next to her in the water instead.

"Even if he hasn't." I continue "Mommy will make sure you're taken care of, okay?"

I lean down and kiss the top of her head before continuing to wash her.


	44. Chapter 44

Cat's POV

"Good morning ladies." My mom smiles as I enter the kitchen Friday morning, Audrey on my hip

"Good morning." I respond, setting Audrey down in her high chair and fastening her in

As soon as I walk away, she begins to fuss, reaching her arms out for me.

"What's with Audrey?" My mom asks

"I don't even know." I admit, opening a cabinet and pulling out a jar of baby food "She's been super clingy all morning. I had to straighten my hair in my bedroom instead of the bathroom and let her sit on my lap, just so she'd stop crying. Calm down, baby girl. I'm right here, see?"

I pull one of the chairs away from the kitchen table and set it in front of the high chair, unscrewing the lid on the jar of baby food as I sit down.

I attempt to feed Audrey a spoonful, but she turns her head away, giving me a look that I can only compare to a puppy dog looking at someone who just kicked it.

"What has gotten into you this morning Audrey Renee? Look, it's bananas and peaches." I tell her, holding the jar up "Your favorite."

"Here let me try." My mom offers "You need to eat something too."

"Good luck." I sigh, standing up and handing her the baby food

I go over to the fridge and grab an orange out of one of the produce drawers, beginning to peel it as I watch my mother attempt to feed my daughter, she doesn't have any more luck than I did.

"Look baby girl." I try to grab her attention "Mommy's eating breakfast! Ooh! Yummy!"

"I don't think she's hungry..." My mom shrugs turning to face me "What time did she have her bottle last night?"

"9:30." I say, sucking on an orange slice "Not any later than she usually does."

"Interesting."

"I'll just have Chelsea try in another hour or so." I sigh, walking around the counter to retrieve the baby

"Speaking of that," my mom says "Are you coming back here at all today? Or are you just going to go straight to your Dad's after school?"

"I'll probably come home to grab some of her things." I tell her "But it'll be a quick in-and-out."

"So I won't see you until Sunday night?"

I shake my head.

"Well have a good weekend then." She hugs me "Call if you need anything, but go to your father first, do you understand me?"

"Yes Mom."

"Alright." She smiles "Bye bye, Audrey!"

Audrey frowns and buries her head in my chest.

Perfect. Not only is this the first weekend she'll be staying at my dad's house with me, she's being difficult too.

I grab my backpack and the diaper bag from their place by the door and go out to my car. After dropping the bags in the passenger seat and getting Audrey settled in the back, I climb in and start the engine.

We're only about a block away when Audrey starts screaming, not crying, screaming, her lungs out. Concerned, and slightly startled, I pull over to the side of the road, kill the engine, and immediately hop out to see what's wrong.

"Hey hey hey hey hey baby girl." I coo, sitting in the backseat next to her car seat "What's the matter? Hm?"

I try tickling her to get her to smile, but she grabs my finger, wrapping her entire hand around it.

"Are you just clingy today?" I ask her "Is that the issue?"

I don't expect her to respond or anything, but I reach into the front seat and grab the diaper bag, pulling it into my lap. After digging around for a second, I find Ellie The Elephant and plop it in her lap. She wraps her arms around it immediately and hugs it to herself.

Thinking I've found a solution to the issue, I return to the drivers seat and commune driving, only to have the baby start crying again.

"Audrey!" I tell her "You're _fine._"

* * *

"She could be teething." Robbie tells me at lunch "All the baby books say there's a possibility they can get really clingy when they start teething."

"You didn't see the way she looked at me when I tried to leave her with Chelsea this morning." I sigh, resting my head in my hands "It was the most heartbreaking look I think I've ever seen."

"Aw Cat..." Tori puts a hand on my shoulder "I'm sure she'll be okay...it's probably just a phase or something."

"Or something." I roll my eyes

"It's probably just a temporary thing." Jade insists "I mean, she was fine yesterday right?"

"Right."

"Then maybe she just didn't sleep well or something and she's cranky and wants attention." Andre suggests "That can happen to babies, right?

"Maybe." I shrug "I dunno, really."

My phone starts buzzing in my pocket. Usually, the only people who call me during school hours are Audrey's doctors, who don't actually know I'm in school, or telemarketers trying to sell me things. However, when I pull my phone out of my pocket and see Chelsea's name and picture on caller ID, my stomach drops.

"Shit." I mutter, standing up from the lunch table "I'll be right back guys."

"Everything okay?" Robbie calls to me

"Not sure, I'll let you know." I say as I turn away "Hi Chelsea..."

"Hi Cat..." She says sympathetically on the other end, I can hear Audrey fussing "How's school so far?"

"It's fine." I tell her "But I know that's not why you called, cut to it."

"She's been crying all morning, she's still really clingy, so I took her temperature and it's 102."

I practically almost drop my phone.

"102?" I clarify "It's _that_ high?"

"Stay calm, all babies get sick, Cat."

"No...I...I know." I stutter "Have you gotten her to eat anything?"

"No not yet." She sighs

Audrey continues to cry somewhere in the background.

"I'm coming over there." I say "She needs me."

"I can manage until school gets out."

"Chelsea do you _hear_ her?" I exclaim "The only time she's wasn't crying all morning was when _I_ was holding her! Please! Call me out of my last few classes!"

"What classes do you have left today?" She asks after a moment of hesitation

"Calculus, Gym, and my vocals class!" I tell her "Please Chelsea, please! You're on my emergency contacts, it's allowed!"

"After calculus." She tells me

I'm about to argue, but I realize that something is better than nothing so I agree. I give her the number for the pediatrician's office and tell her to call and talk to one of the nurses, see what they think we should do.

"Hey Robbie?" I say when I get back to the table "Can you do me a favor before you tael off for the weekend?"

"Probably?" He raises an eyebrow "It depends."

"Audrey has a 102 fever." I tell him, resulting in a chorus of gasps from the entire table

"Poor baby!" Lydia frowns

"Yeah apparently she's miserable." I sigh "Anyway, Robbie. Can you stop by my mom's and grab a few things? The overnight bags are on my bed, the pac-n-play is folded up in her closet, and I'm guessing I'll need a few extra onesies..."

"Absolutely." He nods "We're not leaving until five anyway."

"Thank you." I breathe a sigh of relief "You're a lifesaver."

"Not a problem." He tells me "It's in the Daddy Job Description."

* * *

I'm in the process of giving Audrey a sponge bath with cool water, per the doctor's instructions, when there's a knock at the door.

"I'll get it." Chelsea says, moving past me towards the door "Oh hi Robbie."

"Hi." He greets her, entering the apartment, overnight bags and portable pac-n-play case slung over his shoulder "Oh hi baby girl."

He sets the bags down by the door and moves to my side.

"How is she?" He asks

"Better since we've tried this." I hold up the washcloth in my hand "But she's still pretty upset."

"Can I pick her up?"

"Go ahead."

"Hi sweetie." He coos, picking her up and legging her rest her head on his shoulder, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead "Wow, yeah, she's warm."

I nod.

"Maybe I should stay home this weekend..." He sighs, rocking her back and forth as she starts to fuss

"She's going to be sick whether you're here or not." I tell him "Go have a good time with your girlfriend, okay? We'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" He asks "I don't want to 'abandon you in your time of need' or anything."

"Yes." I nod "One year is a big deal, go celebrate."

"Alright." He smiles "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"I should probably get going though..." He sighs "I need to pick Lydia up soon."

He hands the baby back to me and I lay her back down on the towel if have spread out in the kitchen counter.

"Bye bye, baby girl." He whispers to her, giving her another quick kiss "I hope you feel better real soon."

"So do I." I chuckle as Robbie heads for the door again "Oh Robbie?"

"Yes?" He stops, hand on the knob

"Wear a condom." I laugh "You can barely handle her, you don't need two."

"Bye Cat." He chuckles, rolling his eyes and heading out the door just as quickly as he came

* * *

Later that night, I sit on the couch in my father's living room, watching reruns of America's Best Dance Crew on MTV. Audrey, who has finally calmed down, lays sleeping on my chest. I'm starting to nod off too, exhausted from trying to comfort her all afternoon and evening.

"The view from up here is beautiful..." My Dad says "...isn't it?"

I jump a little. I hadn't even known he was in the room.

But he's right, there's a wall of windows in the living room that lead out to a terrace, and beyond that, is a breathtaking view of Downtown Los Angeles.

"Sorry." He apologizes, starting towards me "I didn't mean to startle you."

"No." I assure him "No you're fine. How long have you been home?"

"An hour, hour and a half maybe." He shrugs "You were in your room when I came home, and then we've just kept missing each other."

"Sorry."

"Nah it's fine." He tells me, sitting down on the couch maybe five or so feet from me "I heard you've had an interesting afternoon..."

"Yeah." I sigh, looking down at Audrey and brushing some of her hair out of her face "I think her fever finally broke...she's out cold."

"So this..." He says "this is my granddaughter..."

"This is your granddaughter." I nod "Miss Audrey Renee Valentine."

"The Christmas baby?" He asks

"Yeah." I chuckle "The Christmas baby. Well, Christmas Eve technically but...yeah."

"She looks a lot like you did at that age..." He smiles "Your brother a little bit too, but wow, she's so..."

"So what?"

"You."

"Well I'd hope so." I chuckle, kissing the top of her head "I made her."

"Don't remind me." He groans

"Oh come on Dad, just face it." I sigh "I'm not a little girl anymore, I have one of my own."

"I know." He admits "I know, and everyday, that gets a little easier for me to come to terms with, but I'm hoping that having her here...seeing you with her...maybe it'll make it even easier."

I guess that's all I can really ask for...right?


	45. Chapter 45

_Cat's POV _

"Well." I sigh, standing in front of the mirror in my bedroom "I guess this is it."

My hair is straightened and hangs down to just below my shoulders. I'm wearing a baby pink dress with white horizontal stripes running across it, and white baby doll heels.

"What do you think, baby girl?" I ask Audrey, turning around to face her "Does Mommy look pretty?"

She grins up at me from her blanket where she's surrounded by toys.

"I'll take that as a yes." I smile, bending down to pick her up "Now it's time to get you all dressed up!"

I carry her out of my bedroom and into her nursery. Her dress is hanging on a knob of one of the dresser drawers under her changing table. It's a white dress that has a light pink, yellow and blue watercolor floral print on it with a pink ribbon bow around the midsection. When I saw it in the store, I knew it just screamed Audrey, and I have to admit, she looks pretty freakin' adorable in it too.

I add a pink flower headband and a pair of socks that look like pink converse, then pick her up and rest her on my hip as I make my way downstairs.

"Oh my goodness." My mother gasps when I enter the kitchen "You look gorgeous, Cat."

"Thank you." I blush

"Wow." She sighs "I can't believe my baby girl is all grown up and about to graduate high school."

"Mom." I groan

"Hey." She looks over at Audrey "One day you'll understand. Do you have your cap and gown?"

"In my car." I tell her

"You should probably get going then." She suggests, reaching her arms out to take Audrey from me "Wouldn't want to be late."

"Right." I agree "Thanks Mom."

"For what?" She laughs

"For..." I hesitate "For everything."

* * *

"Tori you have got to be kidding me!" I groan "We don't have time for this!"

She had somehow managed to knock her graduation cap off her head and was having issues getting it re-pinned.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" She exclaims

"Obviously."

"Chicks." Holden scoffs, rolling his eyes.

Oh yes, Holden Vance. I had been lucky enough to end up right in front of him in the graduation lineup, since it's alphabetical. I've been choosing to ignore him all night.

The line continues to move forward as Helen reads off the names and students walk across the stage. In front of us there's a dwindling sea of orange (female students) and purple (male students) gowns, slowly inching towards the stage.

"Damien Sawyer..." I hear her announcing "Robert Shapiro..."

"Hurry up!" Tori panics "We're getting closer!"

"Patricia Stephenson..."

"Hold still!" I order Tori

"Brendan Ullie..."

As quickly as possible I slide the pins under her cap, securing it into place just in time to hear Helen call

"Caterina Valentine..."

I climb the stairs up onto the stage and walk across it to retrieve my diploma.

"YES CAT!" I hear Charlie cheering "THATS MY SISTER!"

I turn to see him sitting next to Tuck, holding Audrey on his hip in about the middle of the auditorium. They're in between my mom and dad. Next to my Dad is Chelsea, and next to my mom is Jack.

I grin and wave to them as I walk off stage, giddy with excitement

"Holden Vance..." Helen says "Victoria Vega..."

I wait for Tori and then we walk arm in arm out the stage door and exit into the auditorium, taking our seats in the front.

"Megan Walsh...Samantha Wagner...Jade West..."

We both cheer as Jade walks across the stage, we can hear the boys going crazy too. It's official, as of this moment my entire group of friends has graduated high school.

"David Yutman...Stephan Zimmerman...we'll just let these last few students join their classmates..." Helen pauses and let's the remaining kids file into their seats "Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, the Hollywood Arts senior class of 2014!"

"Is this when we throw our hats up?" I ask

"I think so." Tori chuckles, ripping off the hat I had just tried to hard to reattach and throwing it up in the air, as I, along with all our classmates, do the same.

"Hey!" Andre approaches us, jumping over a row of auditorium seats "We did it! We're free!"

He pulls Tori close to him and kisses her. A few feet away I see Robbie and Lydia doing the same, and although I can't see Beck and Jade...I'm going to assume they're celebrating as well. Almost makes me wish that-

"Congratulations!" Somebody from behind me cheers

A pair of strong, muscular arms wrap around my waist, pick me up, and spin me around.

It's only once I'm back on the ground and turned around that I see that it's Jack.

I stand up on my tip toes and kiss him on the lips.

"Hi." I laugh

"Hey." He smiles "Your family sent me to find you."

"They can wait a few minutes." I smirk, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him again

"Get a room!" Tori yells

"Oh shut up!" I roll my eyes

"Come on." Jack takes my hand "Let's go back."

I follow him as he weaves through the sea of people back towards where my family was seated. On our way I see Robbie and Lydia talking to a woman I don't recognize, probably one of her relatives I assume.

"There she is!" Chelsea smiles as we approach them "Our graduate!"

"Hi everybody. Audrey!" I gasp "Baby girl!"

She grins and leans towards me, I take her in my arms and hold her high above my head before bringing her back to rest on my hip.

"So this must be Audrey..." Jack smiles, playing with her hand

"Yeah." I say proudly "Jack Laughlin, meet Audrey Valentine."

"Hey cutie pie." He coos "Aren't you just the sweetest thing?"

My mother clears her throat and my head snaps up.

"Sorry." I laugh

I give each of them a hug and then we stand there talking, everybody saying how proud they are of me.

"Cat!" I hear someone call

I turn to see Robbie coming towards us

"Hey." I greet him "Robbie, this is Jack. Jack this is Robbie."

"Nice to meet you." Jack extends a hand to him "You're..."

"The baby daddy." Robbie chuckles shaking his hand, I can practically feel my face turning the same color as my hair "Cat, can I borrow the baby? My mom wants pictures..."

"Sure." I shrug, passing Audrey to him "Go with Daddy baby...hey who were you talking to just now? The girl?"

"We'll talk later." He tells me, then disappears into the crowd of people

Weird.

"So." Jack pulls me back to him "What do you say tomorrow night I take you out for a celebration dinner?"

"Sounds perfect." I admit "I'll start looking for a sitter."

* * *

"So...who was that girl you and Lydia we're talking to earlier?" I ask Robbie

We're standing in line to turn our gowns back in, separated into two lines, A through K and L through Z. Andre, Beck and Lydia stand in the other line and Jade and Tori had gotten in line before us and are somewhere way ahead. I hold both of gowns, one in each arm, and he holds Audrey, who is fast asleep, head resting against his shoulder.

"That..." He sighs "That was Miranda..."

"Isn't your sist-wait." I gasp "Miranda, your sister Miranda?"

He nods.

"Wow!" I grin "You must've been so happy to see her!"

"She's only my half sister." He reminds me "I mean, there was such an age gap I...I barley know her. And obviously I'm not important enough to that side of my family to be that involved with them anyway..."

"What do you mean?" I ask and the line inches forward some "She came to your graduation, that's enough for something isn't it?"

"My dad died three years ago." He says flatly "You know when I found out? About an hour ago. When I asked where he was and she looked so shocked that I didn't know. Nobody bothered to tell me."

"Oh my god Robbie." I gasp "I'm so sorry."

"I barley even remember him." He shrugs "I don't really know how I feel about it just yet. It just...it sucks knowing I'll never get the chance to reconnect with him you know? I have to spend the rest of my life wondering 'what if?'..."

"Don't think like that..." I tell him

"If something should ever happen to me...and I'm not saying that it will, but hypothetically speaking...if something should happen make sure that you tell her..." He nods towards Audrey's sleeping form "Make sure you tell her everything about me. Okay? I don't want her wondering 'what if?' for the rest of her life too."

"Of course, Robbie." I frown, giving him a hug "Of course..."


	46. Chapter 46

_Cat's POV _

For the first time in a long time, I'm awoken on a Monday morning not by an alarm clock, but by the sounds of Audrey's cooing coming from the baby monitor on my bedside table. And then it really sets in.

The night after last, I graduated high school. I'm a real adult now.

I throw the sheets off my body and climb out of bed, walking over to the mirror hanging above my dresser. I brush my hair out and pull it into a ponytail before walking out of my room and down the hall to Audrey's.

"Hi baby girl!" I smile, entering the room

She smiles at me and raises her arms as I lift her out of her crib and rest her on my hip. We walk over to her window and I open the blinds, allowing the room to be flooded with light. Audrey grins and claps her hands.

"Good morning World!" I coo "Good morning sun, good morning sky, good morning trees, and birds and squirrels..."

Don't ask, my mom always did it with me, it's just something I wanted to carry on with her.

After changing her into a fresh diaper and getting her dressed, I take her back to my room so I can get dressed too.

Prince enters the room a few seconds after we do, and walks over to Audrey, sniffing her. She giggles and tries to hug him, which scares him and he backs away, climbing onto my bed instead.

"That's right Prince," I chuckle as I swap my running shorts for a pair of denim cutoffs "She's bigger now, gotta watch out."

My phone buzzes from its spot on the PearDock on my bedside table, causing Audrey to gasp and giggle at it.

"Did Mommy's phone make noise?" I ask her as I go to see what the notification is "Oh sweet!"

It's a text from Mary.

Happy Monday! Giving you a free vacation day today, consider it a graduation gift ;)

"I don't have to go to work today, Audrey!" I tell the baby "I know that means absolutely nothing to you, but I promise it's a good thing!"

She looks at me confused, and turns her attention back to the toy she had been playing with.

"C'mere you!" I smirk, picking her up quickly, causing her to start laughing uncontrollably "Somebody's in a good mood!"

I take her downstairs into the kitchen to find some breakfast, only to find a note from my mom on the counter.

_Cat &amp; Audrey, _

_Happy Summer! Enjoy your day ladies! _

_If you go anywhere, make sure you put Prince on his leash in the backyard, don't want him to have any accidents! There's also a load of laundry that needs to be folded, preferably before I get home:) _

_Lots of love, _

_Mom _

"Alright Aud, looks like we've got a chore to do." I sigh, slipping her into her highchair "After breakfast though!"

As I'm sorting through the cabinet, trying to pick a flavor of baby food, my phone buzzes again. This time it's a text from Tori.

Hey! Anybody working tonight?

As I look closer, I see it's a group message with her and I, as well as Jade, Andre, Beck and Robbie.

Nope! I respond

A few seconds later, more responses come in. Andre and Jade both say no. Beck says he'll be off by one, and Robbie says he'll be off by five.

"Aunt Tori is planning something." I tell Audrey as I sit down in front of her with a jar of baby food and a spoon "We'll see what she's up to..."

The phone buzzes again.

Perfect! Anybody up for a summer kick off pool party? My house. 6 until whenever. Cat and Robbie, you should bring Jack and Lydia.

A few seconds pass before she adds

Oh! And Audrey too!

"Wanna go to a pool party, Aud?" I ask her "We're gonna have to go out and find you a swimsuit..."

She starts whining and kicking her legs

"Oh!" I exclaim, screwing the lid off the jar of baby food "Sorry baby girl, food first!"

* * *

"Cat where the heck did you even find this?" Robbie exclaims

He's just finished blowing up one of those inflatable baby pool rafts for Audrey to sit in. It's hot pink and looks like a flamingo.

"It was a set!" I tell him "The towel matches!"

He leans down and grabs the pink, hooded flamingo towel out of my pool bag.

"You're joking right?"

"Aw come on." Lydia laughs, walking over to him "It's cute! I love her swim suit by the way Cat."

It's a light pink one piece with white polka dots.

"Thanks." I smile "I thought it was cute."

"It is!"

"Hello?" Jack calls, walking around the side of Tori's house and into her backyard

"Hi!" I wave to him as he climbs up the steps onto the deck "Audrey! Hold still!"

I'm attempting to spray her with bug spray. But she already sat through the sunscreen and she's growing restless. She wants to go investigate this blue mass of liquid Daddy has been trying to get her excited about for the past fifteen minutes.

"Is this all really necessary?" Robbie asks, picking up the sunscreen and examining it "It's almost sunset..."

"It's going to be sunny for a little while longer." I tell him "and you know the bugs are worse at night."

"Hello beautiful." Jack smiles and leans down to kiss me

"Hi." I smile back

"Why don't you ever greet me like that anymore?" I hear Jade ask Beck

I don't hear Beck's answer, but I'm guessing Jade didn't like it.

"Hi everybody." Jack addresses the rest of the group "Hi Audrey!"

"Aud can you wave hello?" I try demonstrating for her, usually she would, but now for some reason she doesn't "Don't take it personally, she doesn't know you that well yet. Plus she's pissed at me."

"Uh oh." He laughs, sitting down on the lawn chair next to me "What'd you do?"

"I won't let her in the pool."

"That spray sores pretty fast." Tori tells me "You're probably safe."

"Alright." I shrug "You wanna go in the pool Audrey?"

She doesn't respond, not that I expect her to, but I know her answer regardless.

"Alright hang on." I had her over to Jack "Can you? Just for a second?"

"Uhh. Sure." He hesitates, taking her from me, looking a little uncomfortable.

"Just for a second." I repeat

I take off my cutoffs and pull my t-shirt off over my head to reveal the pink bikini I'm wearing underneath.

"Not fair!" Tori exclaims "You had a baby and you still look better than me!"

"Not true." I roll my eyes, taking Audrey back from Jack "Alright Aud, let's go swimming! Jack, you wanna come?"

"Sure!" He jumps up and pulls his tank top off

And in doing so, he reveals his six pack abs. Hot damn.

Slowly...I wade down the steps into the shallow end of the pool so she becomes accustomed to it, Jack follows behind me.

"How's she doing?" Robbie asks, looking concerned

"I think she likes it!" I chuckle

I stop when the water is about waist high, not wanting to carry Audrey any further without the inflatable. I splash some water up onto her, and first she flinches, but then a smile spreads across her face and she hits the surface of the water with her hand.

"It's just like bath time!" I coo "I knew you'd like it!"

"It's fun, isn't it cutie?" Jack smiles "She's so fun to watch..."

He leans over and kisses me quickly before kneeling down and swimming infront of me. Audrey finds it hilarious when he disappears under the water, then resurfaces a few seconds later making funny faces and noises. She laughs hysterically every single time.

"I think she likes you." I smile

"I'm glad I passed the test!" He chuckles

"Mind if we join the party?" Andre asks, wading in hand-in-hand with Tori "Looks like y'all are having fun."

"We sure are!" I laugh "Robbie are you coming in?"

"In a second." He tells me "I like watching."

"Oh he's going in!" Lydia smirks, giving him a hard shove, sending him tumbling Into the water, causing Audrey to laugh even harder than she was, if that's possible.

"Happy summer everybody!" Tori yells


	47. Chapter 47

_Cat's POV _

I forgot how wonderful and amazing summer is. Especially now that I'm not pregnant.

Audrey usually isn't up until nine, which gives me more time to sleep. Sure, it's not the eleven o'clock or noon I get when she's with Robbie on his weekends, but it's later than the five thirty or six I was getting up at during the school year.

I get a few hours of playtime before I have to drop her off at the babysitters, either Chelsea or Robbie depending on the day, and clock into work at noon. The new summer hours keep me there until five, Monday through Friday, but then I get the rest of the day to hang out with my friends, fantastic boyfriend, and beautiful little girl.

Everyday brings something new with her. Whether it be a new discovery of hers, a new tooth, a new sound, and I'm sure one of these days eventually, it will be crawling. She's so close already, I know it's only a matter of time.

She loves playing with Prince, even though the two of them have two very different definitions of playing, usually one of them ends up pissed off at the other, but it's cute to watch anyways.

She loves going to Aunt Tori's to swim in the pool. It doesn't matter who's holding her, whether it be Mommy, Daddy, Lydia, Jack or one of her Aunts or Uncles, or even if she's just sitting, floating in her baby floatie.

My favorite, of course, is right before she falls asleep. We'll sit in the rocking chair in her room, her in my lap, head resting on my chest, and rock until she falls asleep. Sometimes I'll read her a book, even though she's still too little to take much interest, or sometimes I'll sing her to sleep. It's special time I get with her I want to take the time to appreciate before fall comes and I get busy with my college courses.

Not nearly as busy as my friends will be though. They're all busy preparing to ship off to their respective schools, with Beck leaving first in just under a month, and Tori leaving last the first week of September. The fact that they're all leaving to go to completely different (mostly) a parts of the country is scary. I won't have them around whenever I need them anymore, but I'll still have Jack, so I know I'll be fine.

"Has anybody seen my beautiful girlfriend?" He asks, entering the store one afternoon in July

"CAT!" Annie yells "Your God damn perfect boyfriend is here!"

"I heard him come in." I chuckle, entering the sales floor from the back offices "Hi there."

"Hi." He smiles, leaning down to give me a kiss "I brought you this."

He holds up a Jet Vroom frappechino in one hand, a pastry bag in the other. He picked up a part time job there for the summer while he's not in school.

"One caramel frappechino and vanilla scone." He smiles, handing them to me "Just for my perfect girl."

"Why thank you." I thank him "You excited for tonight?"

We're all driving down to Venice Beach tonight to celebrate Jade's birthday, and to have one last hurrah before they all go off to school.

"Totally." He smiles "You're off early, right?"

"Yeah at three." I tell him, which is like half an hour "I'll probably be late though, Audrey was being difficult this morning and I barely got anything ready that I needed to. Plus I still have to pick her up."

"Why can't Robbie just pick her up?" He asks

"Because he and Lydia already went down this morning." I sigh "They wanted to get some alone time in."

"They seem to do that a lot..." He chuckles "Here, I'll tell you what, you go home and get ready what you need to, and I'll pick up the baby."

"You don't have a car seat..." I remind him

"Well then here" he pulls out his car keys and hands them to me "I'll take your car, you take mine. We'll meet you at your Mom's and then we can all drive together."

"Are you sure?"

"It's only half an hour, Cat." He laughs "I'll be fine."

* * *

Off in the distance, I hear Audrey explode into a fit of laughter. I sit up on the blanket, where I had been laying with Jack, to see her sitting on Robbie's lap next to Lydia, just where the tide reaches the sand, grinning and laughing every time the water rushes up and around them, and then retracts again.

"Jack, what time is it?" I ask, noticing that the sun is starting to set and it's almost dark.

"Uhhh..." He sits up and grabs his phone "Almost eight, why?"

"She's going to crash soon..." I sigh "I should get her dressed. We're gonna have a bonfire right?"

"Right!" Beck jumps in from a few feet away

Audrey, Jack and I had gotten to the beach around 4:30 and met up with everyone. We has swam for a bit, buried Robbie in the sand, which scared the hell out of Audrey and made her scream, because Daddy was just a floating head, then gotten dinner at a cute little diner on the boardwalk. The wait staff had sang happy birthday to Jade and made a big deal out of it, pissing her off, but earning us a free banana split. Audrey got her first introduction to vanilla ice cream. Yes, I'm fully aware that babies aren't supposed to have actual real milk until they're at least a year old. However, it was only a little bit off the tip of my finger, and it's a special occasion.

After dinner we returned to the beach, and spent a little while swimming before handing the baby off to Robbie and returning to my blanket to tan for a while.

"ROBBIE!" I yell standing up and starting to make my way to them

"Pajama time for Audrey?" He asks as I get closer

"Yeah." I nod "You want to change or or should I?"

"Will you?" He asks "Pretty pretty please?"

"Sure." I chuckle "C'mere baby girl."

I position her on my hip and her head immediately falls to rest on my shoulder as we walk back to the blanket to get the diaper bag.

"Somebody's getting tired..." I singsong as we make our way off ten beach and up to the bathrooms on the boardwalk.

"CAT!" Jack yells, running to catch up with me while pulling his tank top on at the same time "Wait up! I'll come with you!"

"You're going to come to the girl's bathroom with us?" I raise an eyebrow at him

"Well no, but I can use my own bathroom while you're at it." He chuckles, putting an arm around my waist.

We enter our separate restrooms and I lay Audrey down on the changing table, switching out her dirty swim diaper for a clean regular one. I place her swimsuit in a plastic bag so it doesn't get everything in the diaper bag dirty, and change her into a pair of light pink pair of footed pajamas that say 'I love my Aunt' across the chest in white lettering and have white kitten faces on the feet.

"I think they might be a little too girly for Aunt Jade's liking..." I tell Audrey as we exit the bathroom "but hopefully she appreciates the gesture."

Outside, Jack stands, talking to Robbie, next to a group of what appear to be junior high age boys, running around, passing a frisbee back and forth.

"Hey." I greet Robbie "I thought you were staying down at the beach?"

"I wanted something to drink." He tells me, holding up a paper cup "I figured we could all walk back together."

"HEADS UP!" A voice yells

I turn to see the frisbee flying at me, and duck out of the way just in time to narrowly miss Audrey getting smacked in the back of the head. It whizzes past me and Jack snatches it out of the air.

"Watch it!" I warn "There's a baby over here!"

"It's just a frisbee..." One of the boys scoffs as Jack passes it back "What person your age has a baby anyway? Slut..."

"HEY!" Jack exclaims, the boy turns around "Yeah! You! What did you just say?"

The boy looks nervous, and doesn't respond.

"Yeah that's what I thought..." He scoffs "Come on guys, let's go back."

I hand the diaper bag to Robbie and grab Jack's hand with my newly free one as we start to walk away from the boys.

"SLUT!" Another one of them calls out when we're about fifteen feet away

"You think that's funny?" Robbie turns around and starts heading back "So you?"

"Robbie..." I sigh "It's nothing I haven't heard before, just leave it alone."

"No." He waves me off "Listen kid. I won't have you talking that way about one of my best friend's, especially when she's my daughter's mother. You think we did this on _purpose_? You think it's _easy_ raising a child when you're eighteen and you're still trying to figure your life out?"

"I'll get him..." Jack sighs, stepping forward

"No." I stop him "Let him go."

"Just think twice before you open your mouths, you little twerps." Robbie scoffs "And this is no way to treat a lady, at this rate, you'll never get girlfriends."

And with that he turns on his heel and starts making his way back towards us.

"Listen to me Audrey." He says, bringing his face to the same level as hers "I know you're not dating until you're thirty, but if you ever bring home a boy who acts like _that_, you'll be grounded for the rest of your life."


	48. Chapter 48

_Cat's POV _

"Damn it's hot!" Jack exclaims

"And crowded..." Robbie adds

"Well that's what you get for coming to the zoo on a Saturday morning." Jack chuckles "It's going to be crowded."

"Oh would you two stop complaining." Lydia rolls her eyes "This is going to be fun!"

The four of us had decided to go on a double date to the Los Angeles Zoo, and brought Audrey along. Because who doesn't love the zoo? Sure, it was a little pricey, but Audrey got in for free.

"Alright buggaboo." I smile as I finish rubbing sunscreen onto Audrey "Are you ready to see all the animals?"

"She's not even going to understand what's going on..." Robbie reminds me

"Oh hush." I scold, sticking Audrey in her stroller, sliding her sunglasses onto her face and pulling up the visor "We're gonna have fun!"

"Yeah!" Jack laughs, taking my hand "Yay animals!"

I shoot him a look.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"So what should we see first?" Robbie asks, grabbing a map as we pass the welcome kiosk "Bears, dolphins...?"

"Snakes?" Jack smirks, tickling my abdomen "We all know how much Cat loves snakes!"

"Absolutely not!" I exclaim "No snakes! Not today, not ever!"

"Come on." Robbie teases me "They're not so bad!"

"Fine. You and Jack go see the snakes." I tell him "Lydia and I will take Audrey to an exhibit that doesn't completely freak me out!"

"Fine." He 'pouts' "Another time. We can see whatever you guys want, I don't really have that much of a preference."

"What if we took Audrey to see the elephants?" Lydia suggests "I mean, she loves Ellie so much. That would be fun!"

"Yeah!" I agree

"Again, she doesn't understand..." Robbie sighs

"Don't be such a party pooper." She scolds him

"Yeah Robbie!" Jack smirks

I exchange a glance with Lydia as I start pushing the stroller in the direction of the elephants and I know we're both thinking the same thing.

I remember how important is was to Robbie that Lydia and I got along when hey first started dating, and I had expected the same from him and Jack. However, it's way easier for teenage boys to bond than teenage girls, so Jack and Robbie are already at a place it took Lydia and I at least six months or so to reach, maybe even more. Not that it's bad, I just hadn't expected them to become so close so soon. I mean, they're not hanging out together outside of ever being with me, but it's nice to know they get along.

"Look Audrey!" I coo as we approach the exhibit "Elephants! Just like your Ellie!"

I pull her out of the stroller and rest her on my hip so she can get a better look.

She looks confused for a moment, but then turns to me, grinning and tries to hand me the giraffe shaped teething toy she had been sucking on.

"No no." I laugh "That's Sophie silly goose. She's a giraffe. Those are elephants!"

"Even the teething toy has a name?" Jack raises an eyebrow at me

"It came with a name." I tell him

"Yeah my mom bought it for her." Robbie adds "Apparently every baby nowadays has one."

"It's so true though." Lydia tells him "Almost every baby at the daycare where I work has one."

The rest of the day is honestly more exciting for the four adults then it is for Audrey, who falls asleep around noonish. We see basically every exhibit there is to see. Yes, even the snakes. The only reason I agreed to even go into the reptile house at all was that Robbie offered to push the stroller, and Jack kept an arm wrapped protectively around my waist the entire time, which made it not so bad after all.

We decide to leave around 4:30, just a half hour before closing. We walk out to the parking lot together, then go to get in our respective vehicles.

"Okay Audrey." I tell her "Say bye bye to Daddy, you'll see him again real soon!"

"Actually I wanted to talk to you about that." Robbie says "Do you think I could take her tonight?"

"Its not your weekend."

"I know." He admits "But a month from now I'll be five hundred miles away from her at college. So I want to spend as much time with her as I possibly can. Tonight is one of those rare nights when I'm totally completely free. Please Cat, please?"

"We could take a date night..." Jack whispers to me

While I'm really not a fan of abandoning my weekend, it is only for one night. Plus, Robbie has a point. In about three weeks or so the only way he'll be able to see Audrey is through pictures and Skype calls. So I guess just this once...

"Fine." I sigh "If you want to voluntarily take the baby from me on a Saturday night and give me the opportunity to go out with my boyfriend, I'm not going to stop you."

"Yes!" He exclaims "Thank you!"

"Mhm."

I hand the baby over to him and shrug the diaper bag off my shoulder.

"Does that mean we're staying in tonight?" Lydia asks as Robbie opens the back door of his car to slide Audrey into her car seat

"You can go out if you want." He shrugs "I'm going to stay in and have some quality binding time with my daughter!"

"You have fun with that, baby girl." I chuckle, leaning down and giving her a kiss on the forehead "I'll see you tomorrow okay? I love you!"

"I'll drop her off after breakfast." Robbie promises as he climbs into the driver's seat "Thanks again Cat!"

"Yeah yeah." I wave, getting into the driver's seat of my own car "No problem."

"So where do you want to go tonight?" Jack asks, climbing into the passenger's seat

"Surprise me." I smirk

* * *

"Okay so you don't get many points for creativity..." I laugh as Jack and I walk along the boardwalk at Santa Monica Pier "But I'll give you bonus points for winning me the teddy bear."

"Well at least I get points for something." He smiles and kisses me "Here come on, let's get in line for this!"

"The Ferris wheel?" I raise an eyebrow at him "Can this date get anymore cliche? What's next, cotton candy?"

"Do you want want some?" He offers

"No." I laugh "It was just a joke."

"Oh okay." He chuckles "So..."

"So?" I give him a confused look, knowing he's about to change the subject

"So our three month?"

"What about it?"

"Do you want to do something to celebrate?" He asks "I mean, I know we didn't do nothing for our two month, and our one month we just went out to dinner. But three I feel is a bigger deal you know? But I also understand that we'll both be starting classes and your fiends are going to start going off to wherever they're headed..."

"So what are you suggesting?" I ask as we climb into one of the Ferris wheel compartments

"I dunno." He wraps an arm around me "Maybe that we just do something a little smaller than the norm. But have it be just as special."

"Babe, the size of the celebration doesn't matter to me." I tell him "What matters is that I'm with you."

"Alright." He smirks, leaning in to kiss me "I love you."

"Love you more."

"Wanna bet?"

"Nah." I laugh before kissing him again.


	49. Chapter 49

_Cat's POV _

"Hi Mom!" I call as I enter the door from work, Audrey on my hip

My Dad and Chelsea had taken off for the week to visit some tropical island somewhere, so I had just picked the baby up from Robbie's on my way home.

"Oh hello ladies!" My mom greets us as we enter the kitchen

"Are we having a party?" I laugh, looking around

The table is covered in various party platters with fruit, vegetables, chips and other things. A plate of uncooked hot dogs and hamburgers sits on the counter.

"Just a little impromptu barbecue with some friends from work." She tells me "Your brother and Tuck are coming too. You should invite your friends. They're going to start leaving for school soon aren't they?"

"Actually Beck is leaving tomorrow." I inform her

"All the better." She claps her hands "Invite them all over, you can have one last big get together!"

"Are you sure?" I ask

"I'm positive!"

* * *

"Alright Cat." Jack smirks "I'm gonna throw this one nice and easy so you actually have a shot at hitting it, okay?"

"You're such an asshole." I laugh, tightening my grip on the bat

"But I'm your asshole, right?"

"Right." I chuckle "Come on just throw the damn ball!"

He laughs to himself as he throws the baseball towards me. I swing and surprisingly make contact, so I drop the bat and quickly run to the tree we designated as first base.

"Nice hit, lil red." Andre chuckles

"Why thank you!" I laugh, pulling a hair tie off my wrist to tie my hair back "I tried."

My friends and I had decided to play a nice friendly game of baseball. My backyard was more than big enough, and my mom and her friends seemed content to just stay on the deck the entire time. Beck and Andre still had their practice bags in the trunks of their cars, so we had a few bats, balls, and gloves. Whatever else we needed I was able to dig out of the garage from when Charlie was a kid.

The biggest tree is first base, the hammock is second, the edge of the deck is third, and Beck's bag is home plate. We split up all the couples into two teams. Jack, Andre, Jade and Lydia being one team, and Beck, Robbie, Tori and I being the other, just to make things interesting. Charlie mans the grill while he and Tuck mingle with my mom, who is holding Audrey on her lap, and her work friends.

"Get ready to run, Cat!" Beck calls to me as he warms up his swing "This one is bringing everybody home!"

"Alright." I laugh

"Hey Oliver!" Andre yells "You suck!"

"Thanks man." Beck grins "I appreciate that!"

"Jack just pitch it already!" Jade groans

"Alright alright." Jack smirks, winding up to throw the ball

Sure enough, Beck sends the ball flying over the row of hedges at the edge of the yard into that of the neighbors. Bringing both Robbie, who had been waiting on third, and I home, and earning him a full trip around the bases.

"Aw man." Andre sighs "There's no way we're gonna come back from that!"

"I guess you're at the perfect stopping point then." Charlie says from the deck "Come on, the food is ready!"

Which is perfect because I'm starving.

Beck and Andre hang back to pack up their baseball gear while the rest of us head up onto the deck to make plates.

"Audrey!" I exclaim as I approach the patio table where my mom is sitting with a few of her coworkers "Are you ready for dinner?"

"Charlie already fed her." My mom tells me, gesturing to the empty baby food jar on the table "He was so excited to spend time with her I didn't want to stop him."

"Well I'm not going to complain." I chuckle as I reach down to take Audrey from her "Thank you, Uncle Charlie!"

"You're welcome!"

"Wow." One of the women sitting at the table says to my mom "You're right, they do look a lot alike."

"I told you." She laughs

"Who?" I ask "Oh me and Audrey?"

"It's like you have your own mini me!" She tells me "It's incredible."

"Well thank you." I laugh

"Hey she has my nose!" Robbie chuckles, appearing behind me "Don't you baby girl?"

He blows a raspberry on her cheek, then keeps walking.

"Her father." I tell them

After talking to them for a few minutes more, I go and make myself a plate, then join my friends in the yard to eat.

"Will one of you hold her so I at least have a shot at eating this hot dog?" I ask

"Sure!" Lydia offers, reaching up for her

"Thank you." I tell her, and after handing the baby off, I take a seat in the grass next to Jack

Audrey begins to squirm in Lydia's arms, squealing and trying to wriggle free.

"Put her in the grass." Robbie suggests "Sometimes she prefers to sit on her own. Especially when that's what everybody else is doing."

"Here you go Audrey." Lydia coos, placing the baby between Robbie and her

She walks her hands forward so she's laying on her tummy, giggling because the grass tickles her nose.

Knowing that she's fine, I turn my attention back to my dinner and continue eating.

"Uhm!" Andre says nervously "Am I the only one who sees this?"

"Sees what?" I look up "Oh! Audrey! What are you doing?"

She's pushed herself up into a tabletop position and is crawling towards Jack and I.

We all erupt into a chorus of encouragement as she makes her way from one side of the circle we're sitting in to the other.

"Come on, baby girl!" I grin "You're almost there!"

She stops for a moment, hesitant to place her hand down again and continue, but then smiles and keeps going, straight into my lap.

"YAY!" Everybody cheers

"I'm so proud of you!" I whisper, lifting her up in the air and planting a kiss on her cheek

"Good job, Princess!" Robbie exclaims, getting up and running over to us

"Hey!" Tuck calls from the deck "What happened?"

"She can crawl!" Robbie calls back to him

Then the whole deck erupts in celebration as well.

* * *

"Alright kiddo," I hear Beck telling Audrey "Be good for your parents okay? But not too good."

"Dude." Robbie shakes his head "Don't corrupt my daughter."

"It's part of being the fun uncle." Beck winks

"Don't let my brother hear you say that." I chuckle "He thinks he's got that title nailed down."

"Oh we'll just see about that." He smirks "Here kid, go back to Momma."

He hands Audrey back to me, and after giving me and Tori hugs, turns to Robbie and Andre to give them one of those 'bro hugs' as they call it.

"See you all at Thanksgiving, right?" He asks, putting an arm around Jade and pulling her to his side

"Right." Robbie nods "That's not that long."

"It's longer than you think." Jade sighs

"Oh come on." Beck nudges her "We've talked about this. I'm only a short train ride away."

"I know."

"Well." He says flatly "I think we should get going. It's going to be an early morning. Boston is a long drive."

We all agree and after another round of goodbyes, Beck and Jade take off for Beck's truck, walking hand in hand.

That's the point when it actually becomes real for me. That all my friends are going to leave soon, and in about a month's time, all I'll have is Jack and Audrey.


	50. Chapter 50

_Cat's POV _

"I didn't know you played Little League." I chuckle, holding up an old picture of Robbie

"Not my proudest moment." He snatches it away "I'll leave the baseball to Beck and Andre."

So far, Beck, Andre and Lydia have all shipped off to college, with Lydia being the ,oat recent departure as of this morning. Robbie had seemed extremely upset, so I offered to bring Audrey over and help him start packing up his own hints for when he leaves next week. However, he's doing most of the packing. I'm more interested in things like the little league picture, you know, mementoes and such, and Audrey...well Audrey's playing with a box.

It's the little things.

"So do you know who your roommate is?" I ask "Or is it going to be a total surprise?"

"His name is Nick." He sighs, packing a few shirts away into a box "Fellow business major, I've been talking to him over Facebook messages. Seems like a pretty nice guy."

"That's good!" I tell him "You don't seem that excited..."

"I don't want to leave." He admits, sitting down on the bed "I mean,I thought that getting out of LA would be good for me, you know? But with everyone shipping off to different parts of the country, there's not going to be much familiarity in my life anymore. Or any at all for that matter. And the older Audrey gets...hey Cat?"

"Hm?" I turn to face him "I'm listening."

"No...where's Audrey?"

"She's right th- SHIT!" I exclaim "Where'd she go?"

"I don't know!" He claims "She was just over there!"

"Audrey!" I yell, running out of Robbie's room

"Audrey!" Robbie copies, following closely behind me

"Ohhh." I start panicking "How do you lose a baby?"

"Calm down." Robbie tells me as I frantically check all the bedrooms upstairs "She's not big enough to turn doorknobs, she's in the house somewhere."

"What if she tried to go down the stairs?" I ask "She could hurt herself!"

"We would've heard her crying if she fell." He assures me "Don't worry."

"Looking for something?" His mom sighs, walking out of her bedroom

"Audrey!" I exclaim, running to retrieve her "Oh thank god."

"Don't ever scare us like us like that again, young lady." Robbie scolds "Do you understand me?"

"You two really should be keeping a better eye on her." His mom says flatly "She's too little to be unattended."

She grabs the laundry basket that had been sitting at the top of the stairs and carries it downstairs without saying another word.

"Whatever." Robbie scoffs, turning to go back into his room "That's one thing I won't miss when I'm away."

"Your mom?"

"Yeah."

We re-enter his bedroom and I make a point to close the door behind us this time so Audrey doesn't escape again.

"She was right though." I sigh, sitting down next to him on the bed "We should've been watching her, and we shouldn't have left the door open..."

"She didn't have to say it the way she did though." He gets up, starting to pack again "Whatever. Let's just drop it."

* * *

"And this..." Robbie smiles turning the page of a scrapbook "...is a picture of Daddy when he was your age. I look silly, don't I? Look at my hair!"

He's sitting on his bed, Audrey on his lap, showing her an old scrapbook of his he had found in his closet.

"You still look silly." I smirk, packing up a few picture frames

"Thanks, Mommy." He says sarcastically "I appreciate it."

"You're welcome." I laugh "Hey look! Do you remember this?"

"Remember what?" He takes the picture frame from me "Oh jeez. How could I forget?"

The frame I handed him had a picture of all of us on the night Andre had thrown a party at Kenan Thompson's house.

"That was one crazy night, huh?" He chuckles handing it back to me

"Yeah." I agree "Which box do you want it in?"

"Put it in the Arizona box." He tells me

So I do.

"Alrighty." He coos standing Audrey up on his lap "My little Princess Audrey."

"What are you doing?" I laugh

"Just looking." He smirks "Let's see...Mommy's hair, there's no question. Daddy's nose. There's also no question there either. Still not sure who's eyes you have yet, but I'm guessing they'll be Mommy's."

"You don't know that." I say

"But I do." He laughs, tickling the baby's tummy "Mommy's laugh and smile. But Daddy's laughing face."

I stop going through pictures and stop to watch the exchange.

"You're perfect." Robbie tells her, kissing her forehead and then hugging her to his chest "God I'm going to miss you so much."

He brushes a tear from his eye. I pretend not to see, turning to brush away a few of my own.


	51. Chapter 51

_Cat's POV_

"You slept in." My mother laughs as I enter the kitchen "It's almost eleven!"

"I let Robbie have the baby last night." I tell her "He's leaving for Arizona today."

"I see." She takes a sip of her coffee "So when he leaves, who's left?

"Just me and Tori." I sigh "But only for a few days."

"I'm sorry, baby." She frowns

"Don't be." I shake my head "This is what was supposed to happen to me. In the long run, everything will work out."

"That's a _very_ mature way to think of it." She stands up and kisses my cheek "Good for you. So are you picking her up? Or is he dropping her off?"

"I'm going to go get her in a few minutes." I tell her "I want to give them as much time together as possible."

"Who do you think will take it worse?" She asks "Audrey or Robbie?"

"Robbie for sure." I say "Audrey won't understand, he'll be heartbroken."

"He can visit." She shrugs "I'm sure you two will find a way to make it work."

"Yeah hopefully." I sigh "It's not fair to Audrey if we don't"

* * *

"Hi Mommy!" Robbie greets me, opening the door with Audrey in his arms "Good morning!"

"Good morning." I laugh "Can I come in?"

"Of course." He steps aside to let me in "I have some stuff I need you to take."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." He leads me upstairs to his room "Just some of her things I thought would be better off with you rather than just sitting her unused while I'm away. Here, over here."

The pac-n-play I figured, for when we stay at my Dad's house. But the clothes, portable baby tub, and car seat I hadn't expected.

"The car seat?" I ask "Are you sure?"

"What am I going to do with it 500 miles away? You're better off taking it." He sighs "Put it in your Mom's car... or Jack's...I dunno."

"Why would I put it in Jack's car?"

"Somebody is going to have to step in and play the Daddy role." He shrugs "It might as well be Jack."

"Robbie Shapiro!" I exclaim "How dare you! _You_ are Audrey's daddy! Understand? Nobody is going to 'play the part'! That's your job, now and forever."

"Don't let her forget who I am..." He whispers "Promise?"

"Of course." I say, slightly hurt he'd even consider the idea of me letting Jack in to fill the role of the father "I'll show her pictures everyday, and we'll Skype as often as we can."

"I thought I was done crying..." He laughs, sitting down on his bed "I thought I was ready to leave."

"Oh Robbie." I sigh, sitting down next to him "It's not goodbye forever, it's just see you later."

"You got that from the movie they made us watch in econ class!" He sniffles

"So what if I did?"

"I dunno..." he shrugs "I just kept telling myself 'don't think about it and it won't happen', and now it's happening and I don't know what to do..."

"She's still going to be here when you get back..." I tell him "We won't go anywhere, I promise!"

Audrey looks up at us both, then frowns and rests her head against Robbie's chest, as if she can sense his sadness.

"She's such a sweetheart." He sighs "I love you baby girl, don't forget that, okay? Daddy loves you very much."

For whatever reason I can't explain, I find myself crying too.

"Why are you crying?" He asks "You get to stay with her!"

"Your hormones are out of wack for close to a year after you have a baby." I lie

In reality, I'm upset for them both. While I don't know what it's like to be an absentee parent, I know what it's like to have one. And Robbie isn't doing it on his own accord. I can only imagine the pain.

"I'm going to miss her first steps." He cries "And probably her first word...I'm going to miss so much."

"Hey don't focus on that." I tell him "Focus on what you _have_."

"Like?"

"Um..." I hesitate, my voice shaking "Oh here, I know...eight months, and six days ago, we received possibly one of the _greatest_ gifts we could ever ask for, right?"

"Right..." He stops to think "A beautiful little girl with your hair, your laugh, your smile..."

"Don't forget about your nose." I laugh "And your curls."

"My beautiful little Audrey Renee Valentine." He smiles, standing her up on his lap "Don't grow up ever, okay? Stay this little forever."

If only that was actually possible...

* * *

"How did she take it?" Tori asks later that night as we float around the pool. Audrey and her baby inner tube in tow

"She's fine." I sigh "She didn't even realize anything was happening, she's too little."

I splash some water up onto the baby and she giggles.

"How'd he take it?"

"He cried." I tell her "It was painful to watch, knowing there wasn't anything we could do."

"He can visit." She says "It's not like it's goodbye forever, either."

"Right? That's what I said!" I exclaim "But then he pointed out that by the time he's back in LA permanently forever, she'll be four and a half."

"That's scary to think about."

"Isn't it?" I chuckle "Then again, this time last year I never in all my life thought I'd be where I am now."

"Where did you'd think you'd be?" She asks

"On a plane..." I sigh "On my way to New York, to Julliard."

"Cat I'm-"

"No." I stop her "Don't say it. I'm tired of everyone feeling sorry for me. Because I'm not sorry for myself, okay? Yes, this _isn't_ what I planned for myself, at all. But I'm more than happy. I have Audrey, I have my family, I have you guys, and I have Jack. _That_ is what I need to be happy. Not some stupid school."

"Okay." She throws her hands up in surrender "Sorry I asked."


	52. Chapter 52

_Cat's POV_

"If you don't like that cut we can try a different one..." I tell one of my customers as she examines her reflection in the mirror outside the dressing rooms "But I think they look _great_."

"You think?" She turns, looking at the jeans she's trying on "They're not too...show offish?"

"Girl no!" I laugh "They make you look hot!"

"They do, don't they?" She grins "I think I'll get them!"

"They're buy one, get one fifty percent off..." I smirk "You could get two pair..."

"Do you have them in a light wash?" She asks

"You bet I do!" I laugh "Size six right?"

"Right."

"I'll be right back!" I tell her and go to retrieve the jeans from the sales floor

I bring them to her and help her finish up with what she needs, then send her to the register so Annie can ring her up.

"Cat!" Mary calls to me, and gestures for me to follow he back to her office.

"Coming!" I tell her and jog to catch her "What's up?"

"Take a seat." She nods towards the couch as she closes the door behind us

"Oh no." I start to panic "Are you firing me? Mary you know how much I _need_ this job!"

"I'm not firing you." She laughs "I just want to talk."

"Oh thank god." I whisper, taking a seat

Being an out of work college student with an eight month old would not have been a pleasurable situation.

"I saw you with that customer just now." She admits

"Did I do something wrong?" I ask

"No. You were great." She smiles "You seem to have a real way with the customers."

"I'm just social." I shrug "I dunno...it just comes naturally."

"That's good!" She smiles "Really, very good. Have you picked your major yet?"

"I've been in school for two weeks..." I laugh "I haven't even picked a backpack to take on a daily basis yet."

Which as embarrassing as it is to admit, is true.

"Have you considered business at all?" She asks me

"No." I tell her honestly

I want to be a performer, at least I thought I did, before Audrey. Now I don't know if that's the case anymore, and I'm not really sure what do to.

"I'm not trying to parent you." She says "That's not my job, but I have an offer for you."

"Oh?" I raise an eye brow at her

"Yes." She nods "I think, you would do very well in a career field like mine."

"Really?"

"You're a good people person..." she tells me "You're persuasive, you're friendly, you could run a small business with the right training. Which is why I would be willing to let you intern for me."

"Intern?"

"Yes, it would require you to do a little more than what you're doing now, however." She warns "You wouldn't just be on the sales floor all the time. You'd be back here in the office with me, doing a little desk work as well. You know finances, purchase records stuff like that. I'd up your pay as well. Does that sound like something you'd be interested in?"

I stop and think before I answer. I'd honestly never pictured myself as a businesswoman before, it just never really seemed like a world I belonged in. That was Robbie's thing, or even Jade's sometimes. But then again, I'd never really pictured myself as a teen mom either, and I seem to be doing okay with that.

"Yeah." I tell her "I'm interested."

"Good." She smiles "Now obviously you'll need to start taking some business courses, you know, basic 100 levels right now, nothing too complicated yet..."

And just like that, I become a business major.

* * *

"One fish two fish, red fish blue fish. Black fish blue fish, old fish new fish." I read to Audrey "This one has a little star. This one has a little car. Say! What a lot of fish there are."

We're sitting in the rocking chair in her nursery, dressing in our pajamas, reading a book before I give her her bedtime bottle and she starts drifting off to sleep.

"Ah-ba!" She exclaims, slapping the pages of the book

"Yes, fish. That's right." I laugh, turning the page "Yes. Some are red. And some are blue. Some are old. And some are new. Some are sad. And some are glad. And some are very, _very_ bad. Why are they sad and glad and bad? I do not know. Go ask... go ask your dad..."

I know Audrey doesn't understand that Robbie is gone for a long time, which makes me feel even worse. Oh to be young and innocent again.

"Hey." My mom knocks at the door "I'm off to bed."

"Goodnight." I smile as she walks in and kisses the top of my head "Say night night, Audrey."

"Goodnighy sweetie." She tells her "Go to bed soon, okay? It's late."

"It's 9:30." I laugh "I'll go to bed as soon as she does."

"Sounds good." She smiles "I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight." I repeat "Let's see, where were we Aud? Oh! Some are thin, and some are fat. The fat one has a yellow hat!"

Audrey starts squealing and reaches for the bottle on the ground.

"You want your bottle now? But the story isn't over yet!" I tell her "Wait, why am I arguing, I sleep when you sleep. Alright, we can finish the book tomorrow night."

I reach down and grab the bottle, uncapping it as I turn Audrey so she's cradled in my arms. I place the bottle in her mouth as I start pushing the rocking chair back and forth with my foot.

"_He said the way my blue eyes shined, Put those Georgia stars to shame that night._.." I sing softly to her

"_I said, 'That's a lie.'_  
_ Just a boy in a Chevy truck_  
_ That had a tendency of gettin' stuck_  
_ On back roads at night_  
_ And I was right there beside him all summer long_  
_ And then the time we woke up to find that summer gone..."_

I smile down at her as her tiny eyes slowly begin to close, jerking open every once and a while, only to close again

"_But when you think Tim McGraw_  
_ I hope you think my favorite song_  
_ The one we danced to all night long_  
_ The moon like a spotlight on the lake_  
_ When you think happiness_  
_ I hope you think that little black dress_  
_ Think of my head on your chest_  
_ And my old faded blue jeans_  
_ When you think Tim McGraw_  
_ I hope you think of me_"


	53. Chapter 53

_Cat's POV_

"Can you hear me?" I ask

"Loud and clear." Robbie smiles as his face appears on the screen of my laptop

"Audrey!" I exclaim, bouncing her up and down on my lap "Who is that? Is that Daddy?"

"Hi Princess!" He grins "I miss you so so much!"

"She misses you too." I tell him, even though I have no way of knowing if she actually does or not "So, how's college life treating you?"

"Pretty okay." He laughs "What about you?"

"It's _very_ different from high school." I admit "I mean, not that I expected the two to be all that similar, but..."

"Believe me, I understand exactly what you're saying." He chuckles "So, what's new on the Audrey front?"

"Nothing really..." I sigh, brushing a lock of Audrey's hair out of her eyes "Wait actually...check out the eyes."

"She's moving too much." He sighs "I can't tell."

"Audrey Bear, sit still and look at Daddy please." I say "Audrey, look that way."

I grab Ellie off the bed next to be and hold it behind the laptop so she looks that direction. Hopefully it holds her short attention span long enough for Robbie to notice what I'm trying to point out.

"They're brown now." He grins "Just like us."

"Just like us." I repeat "We've gout ourselves a little brown eyed girl."

"_Do you remember when we used to sing, sha la la la la la la la la la la dee dah la dee dah_." He sings into his webcam, causing Audrey to start giggling "Oh you think that's funny, huh?"

"Is Daddy silly?" I ask her "Hm? Is he?"

"I know." He coos "I'm a silly guy."

"Dude." A voice in the background on Robbie's end says "Who the fuck are you talking to?"

"My daughter?" Robbie tells whoever as it's the most obvious thing in the world "Do you want to say hi?"

"No."

"Come on, come say hi."

"Fine." The voice huffs

There's ruffling in the background and within a matter of seconds another boy appears next to Robbie. He's tall with an athletic build, my guess is he's a basketball player.

"Cat, Audrey...This is Nick." He tells us

"Hi." Nick waves

"Hi Nick!" I smile "I'm Cat."

"The baby mama?"

"Dude!" Robbie hits his shoulder

"What?"

"It's not like I've never heard it, Robbie." I roll my eyes

"Can I go back to my video games now?" Nick asks

"Sure."

"Bye Nick! Nice to meet you!" I say as he exits the frame "You two seem like you're _best _friends."

"We actually get along really well." Robbie sighs "_Somebody_ is just being _pissy_ because his girlfriend won't text him back!"

"I heard that!" Nick yells

"You were meant to!"

"Speaking of girlfriends..." I chuckle "How's yours?"

"She's good." He smiles

"Has she visited yet?" I ask

"No." He tells me "But I'm taking the train up this weekend to see her."

"Is it a long trip?"

"Eh." He shrugs "Forty-five minutes by train maybe?"

"Oh that's not bad."

"No not at all."

"Ah-ah-ba!" Audrey exclaims, leaning over and falling off my lap onto my bed

"What is she doing?" He laughs as Audrey crawls out of the frame

"Exploring." I sigh as I pull her back onto my lap "She likes to do that. Yesterday we found the bag of Prince's dog food in the pantry."

"Yummy." He says sarcastically

"Until she chokes." I remind him "She's going to be a handful, I can tell."

"Maybe because her mom is a handful." He laughs

"Excuse you." I smirk "You're not any better."

"I know..." He sighs "I know. So how's Jack?"

"He's good." I smiles

"What has it been now?" He asks "Four months?"

"And a half."

"Sorry _my _bad." He laughs "So he's still treating you right?"

"Yes Robbie." I sigh

"You know I'd beat him up if he wasn't."

"No." I laugh "You'd try to beat him up, but he'd snap you like a twig."

"Okay fine," He smiles "I'd pay Nick to beat him up for me."

"What?" Nick asks

"Nothing." He tells him

Audrey yawns and rests her head against my chest, rubbing her eye with her fist.

"You tired, bear?" I kiss the top of her head "I think it's getting close to somebody's bedtime..."

"No Aud." Robbie laughs "Be rebellious, stay up too late, that's more fun."

"I'll remember that next time you have her for the night." I tell him "Maybe hype her up on caffeine before I drop her off."

"Only seven more weeks until Thanksgiving!" His face lights up "Then I'll be home to visit!"

"Are you coming back the Tuesday or the Wednesday before?" I ask him

"Hopefully Tuesday night." He says "_Hopefully_. It all depends on the traffic."

"Ah-ahhhhhh." Audrey whines, smacking my shoulder with her hand

"Don't hit Mommy, Audrey Renee." Robbie scolds "It's not nice."

"She's tired." I sigh "Chelsea said she had a really hard time getting her to go down for a nap today and then she only slept for maybe an hour."

"We're entering the rebellious stage I see." He chuckles

"Hopefully it's short-lived." I admit "I think we're gonna have to let you go, I don't want to have to calm a tantrum..."

"Alright." He frowns "I love you, Audrey!"

He blows her a kiss. I move her hand to make it look like she's waving.

"Bye Daddy!"

"Bye bye!" He waves

"I'll text you later." I tell him

"Sounds good."

"Bye."

"Bye!"

We both hang up and the video call ends. I close the laptop and stand up.

"Alright, baby girl." I sigh, picking Audrey up and adjusting her on my hip "Let's get you to bed. You've had a long day."


	54. Chapter 54

_Cat's POV_

"Trick or treat!" I smile when the door to Tuck and Charlie's apartment opens, bouncing Audrey in my arms

"Oh my goodness!" Tuck exclaims "Aren't you just _adorable_ Audrey! Charlie! Come see this!"

It's Audrey's first Halloween, and since there's not really much you can do with an infant on Halloween, I decided to dress her up and take her to visit Uncle Tuck and Uncle Charlie. She's a teddy bear, because she's my little Audrey Bear.

"Tuck!" Charlie shrieks when he appears "There's a bear in our apartment!"

"Actually, she's in the hallway..." I laugh "Mind if we come in for a bit?"

"Of course." Tuck steps aside so I can enter "Want some candy? We keep it incase the kids in the building come knocking, but there's not that many of them."

"Sure." I laugh, taking a fun sized Kit Kat out of the bowl "Thanks."

Inside, I set Audrey down on the floor and she crawls away into the apartment as I kick off my flip flops.

"Audrey." I groan, following her

"She's fine." Charlie assures me

"No you don't understand." I tell him "She _really_ likes exploring, and more often than not. she ends up getting into things she shouldn't."

"Well maybe don't put her down right away then." He chuckles

"Do _you_ want to hold her all the time?" I raise an eyebrow at him

"Of course I do!" He coos, bending down and picking her up "But only because I don't see her that often!"

"You can come visit her whenever you want." I remind him

"Easier said than done." Charlie sighs "Right Tuck?"

"Right." Tuck agrees "Life gets hectic and you forget to slow down."

"Tell me about it." I roll my eyes "I blinked and my daughter is ten months old."

"That's almost a year!"

"Don't remind me..."

"What do you think her first word is going to be?" Tuck asks me "Mommy? Daddy?"

"Hopefully it's Mommy." I smile, playing with Audrey's hand "Because she's such a mommy's girl. Hm? Aren't you baby girl?"

Audrey babbles something in her own baby language I have yet to decode, smiles at me, then rests her head against Charlie's shoulder, covering her face with one of her hands.

"Oh is that so?" I laugh

"You understood that?" Charlie looks surprised

"Not a _single_ word." I laugh

* * *

"Okay." I tell my mom as I come downstairs later that night "She's asleep. She should stay that way unless something super out of the ordinary happens."

"Cat." She laughs "What on _earth_ are you wearing?"

"I'm Sandy!" I tell her, she still looks confused "From Grease?"

I'm wearing a tight black t shirt, black leather pants, heels, and my hair is teased to the max.

"Uh huh?" She says, sounding slightly amused "I guess it's better than some of the costumes I've seen on college kids."

There's a knock at the front door.

"There's my Danny!" I tell her and go to answer it

"Hey." Jack greets me when I open the door "Ready to go?"

She's wearing, jeans, a white t-shirt and has a leather jacket slung over his shoulder. His hair is also greased back.

"Yup!" I smile "Bye Mom!"

"Don't be too late!" She calls as I grab Jack's hand and let him lead me down the front walk

"Yeah yeah." I wave her off

"I'm serious, Cat! No later than midnight!"

Jack and I climb into his car, he starts the engine, and we take off towards the UCLA campus.

"I'm so excited!" I admit "My first college party!"

"They're really not all that glamorous..." he laughs, taking my left hand in his right and interlocking our fingers as he drives "But it's still a right of passage."

"You know the guys right?" I clarify

"Yeah." He says "One of my roommate's buddies."

We spend the rest of the ride in silence, the only sound coming from the radio.

"Jack..." I sigh as we pull up "You didn't tell me we were going to a frat house!"

There's people in costumes standing in the yard, light and music pour out of all the windows, and I can hear the bass thumping loud and clear.

"What difference does it make?" He asks me as he opens my door for me "You'll have fun, I promise."

"You'll protect me from any gross scrubs, right?"

"Of course." He smiles, then kisses me

He takes my hand and leads me inside. He says hello to a few people as we weave our way through the crowd. It's crowded and it's hot, not to mention loud.

"_We were victims of the night._.." A familiar song blares from the speakers  
"_The chemical, physical, kryptonite_  
_ Helpless to the bass and the fading light_  
_ Oh, we were bound to get together,_  
_ Bound to get together_..."  
"Jack!" I yell

"What's up?" He turns to face me "You okay?"

"This isn't what I expected..." I admit

"Don't worry." He pulls me closer to him "I've got you."

I smile up at him and kiss him again.

"Now shut up and dance with me, crazy girl." He grins

I'm happy to oblige.

* * *

I wince as my body slams hard into the wall of one of the hallways upstairs.

"You okay?" Jack asks, giving me a look that tells me he's genuinely concerned.

"Yeah." I nod and continue kissing him "Yeah, I'm good."

He continues trying doors as we make our way down the hall, trying to find one that isn't locked.

"Here." He finally tells me "In here."

The room obviously belongs to one of the members of the fraternity. There's a desk and a twin bed, each pushed up onto opposite walls.

I giggle as Jack lifts me up and I wrap my legs around his waist. We fall onto the bed and he slowly begins kissing my neck. At first, I think I'm ready to let him continue, but when his hand reaches to pull my shirt over my head, I stop him.

"Jack..." I grab his hand

"What?" He sits up, breathing heavily "Is everything okay?"

"No." I shake my head as a tear slides down my cheek "I'm sorry. I...I just...I thought I was ready. But...but I'm not."

"Hey don't cry..." He whispers, pulling me into a hug "It's okay! We don't have to do this now...we can wait. As long a you want."

"I'm sorry." I repeat

"Cat don't be." He tells me "I should be apologizing to you..."

"Why?"

"Because this would've been a _terrible_ first time." He sighs "All rushed and frantic in some random, greasy frat boy's bedroom? You deserve better than that."

I'm quiet as I rest my head against his shoulder.

"I'll tell you what. Let's make a deal?" He says

"What?"

"Our first time together won't be until we're _both_ one hundred percent ready, okay? It will be romantic, and special, absolutely nothing like this would've been."

"Okay." I agree, smiling a little

"Come on." He stands up, offering me his hand "The night is still young, it's not too late to go trick-or-treating instead."

"Yes it is." I laugh "People will _kill_ us if we ring their doorbells at this hour. _Especially_ if they have little kids."

"Well then let's go find a twenty-four hour drug store and buy our own candy!" He smiles and kisses me "This party sucks anyways."


	55. Chapter 55

_Cat's POV_

"Audrey." I warn as my daughter approaches the doorway to my bedroom

She stops crawling and turns to look at me.

"That's right, baby girl." I smirk, not even looking up from my computer "I can see you."

She turns and begins crawling out the door again.

"Audrey Renee." I groan, setting my laptop on the floor next to me and getting up to chase her

She giggles as she crawls down the hallway, she thinks it's a game.

"We gotta stop doing this!" I scoop her up and blow a raspberry on her tummy "Mommy has homework to do!"

I carry her back to my bedroom and close the door tightly behind me, and set her down on the floor. She scampers away towards my laptop.

"Audrey no no no no no!" I sigh, picking her up quickly again "That's not an Audrey toy! Oh what am I going to do with you?"

I position her on my hip and bend down and grab my laptop with my free hand and exit the room again. We go into her nursery, where there's more toys for her to play with. I set her down and sit down in the rocking chair with my laptop on my lap, so I can continue working on my paper.

"Ah-ah-bah, ah-ga!" Audrey exclaims, playing with Ellie

"Really?" I say, not looking away from the screen "That's _awesome_, baby girl."

She stays quiet for a few minutes as I continue to type, slightly concerned that she hasn't been making any noise, I look up to check on her, only to find her sitting at my feet. When we make eye contact, a huge grin spreads across her face.

"Hi." I chuckle

She reaches her arms up to me.

"Mommy _really _needs to work on her paper, Audrey Bear..." I sigh

She continues to stretch her arms upward, hopeful.

"You just want someone to play with, don't you?" I ask her "Let me make a phone call."

* * *

"Wheeeeee!" Jack exclaims as he spins Audrey around in the air "Look at you, Aud! You can fly."

Audrey giggles hysterically and I can't help but laugh to myself as I listen in on their exchange.

"Hey Cat?" Jack calls to me

"Yes?"

"Do you have a book or something I can read to her? I think she's getting tired."

"Finally." I mutter to myself "Yeah, upstairs in her room!"

"Cool thanks." He tells me and exits the room with the baby in tow "Come on Aud, let's go find a book."

With Jack here to keep Audrey occupied for me, I've managed to make major progress on my paper. At this rate, I might be done by the time Audrey gets up from her nap, just in time to head off to work. Yay for college classes.

"Hey Cat?" Jack returns with Audrey, a high amount of concern in his voice

"What?" I turn to face him "Is everything okay?"

"I just have a question..."

"Okay?"

"When..." He hesitates "When do babies usually say their first word? Like their first, clear as a bell, easy to understand, audible word?"

"Usually around their first birthday or the month before or after it..." I raise an eyebrow at him "Why...?"

"Dada!" Audrey exclaims and leans her head against Jack's shoulder

"That's why." He cringes

"Audrey!" I gasp, my eyes wide "Oh no...she thinks you're her dad!"

"Yeah I know!" He starts to panic "What do we do?"

"Oh Robbie is going to _kill_ me!" I groan "Maybe...maybe she doesn't connect the word to the face yet. Maybe she just thinks all guys are 'dada'. I mean, she's only ten months old, there's no way she even knows what it means...right?"

"Maybe..." He shrugs "Or maybe we should find a picture of Robbie and try to drill him into her head as 'Dada' and not me!"

"Okay..." I sigh "Okay, wait. I have an idea."

I slip my phone out of my pocket and send a quick text to Robbie before sitting down at the kitchen table in front of my computer again. I open Skype and hit the button that will call Robbie.

"Give me the baby." I order Jack, and he hands her over to me

"Hey." Robbie greets me when his face appears in the screen "What's the emergency? Is everything okay?"

"Your daughter made a breakthrough today." I smile "At least we think she might have. Tell him Aud..."

Nothing. She just stares up at me and smiles.

"Audrey." I groan "Tell _Daddy_ what you just told Mommy and Jack..."

"She told you something?" He raises an eyebrow at me

"Yeah just wait for it..." I sigh

"Cat I have homework I need to do..."

"So do I!" I exclaim "Just wait for it, okay? It will happen eventually."

Audrey leans forward and smacks the laptop screen, laughing hysterically.

"Audrey..." I say flatly, growing impatient

I know she's just a baby and I shouldn't expect her to understand what I'm asking of her, but I really wish she did.

"Come on Audrey." I prompt her "Who's on the screen? Hm? Is that Dada? _Dada_?"

"DADA!" She grins before falling into another one of her giggle fits

"Did she just...?" A smile spreads across Robbie's face "Princess! You said Dada!"

"That's right baby girl." I breathe a sigh of relief "_That's_ Dada..."

"Oh I'm so proud of you." He coos "I can't wait to see you when I'm home in a few weeks. I miss you so much!"

"She misses you too." I tell him, flashing Jack a look of relief "You wouldn't believe how big she's gotten."

"Looks like it." He smiles "Okay. Thanks for calling and telling me. But I've gotta go, I have a big project to finish."

"Same." I agree "Okay Audrey, say bye bye to Daddy."

I pick her hand u p an wave goodbye to him.

"Bye Princess!" He tells her "I love you!"

We hang up and I set Audrey down on the floor.

"Well that was almost disastrous..." Jack chuckles

"Just because I got her to say it to Robbie once, doesn't mean she'll stop saying it to you..." I sigh, resting my head on my hand

"Well you've got about three weeks to make sure that she knows 'Dada' is Robbie and not me."


	56. Chapter 56

_Cat's POV_

"Is there any possibility you and Audrey can...I don't know..." My father hesitates "Not be here tonight?"

I'm sitting at the breakfast bar, working on an assignment for my accounting course, while Audrey plays nearby on the floor.

"What?" I ask, checking to see if I've heard him correctly

"I'm having a really important client over for dinner tonight..." He explains "I just...I think it'd be easier if you weren't here..."

"Dad are you serious?"

"Caterina, I'm not trying to start anything..." He sighs "Please, do me this favor."

"Why?" I ask "Tell me why and I'll think about it."

"If I can win him over, it will mean great things for my career." He tells me "I would really like it to be just the two of us, his wife, and Chelsea."

"Then why not go out?"

"It's more personal this way."

"But not personal enough to have me and Audrey here?"

"Caterina..."

"Fine." I sigh "We'll go to Jack's...how long do you need us gone?"

"All night."

"So what? Eleven? Midnight?"

"No all night." He repeats "Spend the night somewhere."

"Seriously?" I scoff "You're giving me permission to spend the night at my boyfriend's apartment?"

"You'll have your daughter with you." He smirks "I know you won't do anything bad."

He's right. I won't.

"Alright Audrey..." I sigh "Looks like we're gonna have a sleepover with Jack tonight."

She turns and looks at me, chewing on one of her stuffed animals, completely oblivious to what I just said.

"C'mere." I laugh, scooping her up off the ground

I turn and grab my homework off the counter and take it with me to my bedroom to pack an overnight bag.

"Thank you, Caterina." My father calls after me

"Mhm." I roll my eyes, even though my back is turned and he can't see

I close my bedroom door behind me and set Audrey down on the floor, grabbing one of her toys out of the diaper bag and tossing it to her so she's not completely bored out of her mind in here. But hopefully so she also doesn't get into any trouble.

The thought occurs to me that I should _probably _check with Jack to make sure this is all okay with him before I just show up at his door with my baby. I pull out my phone and shoot him a quick text.

Hey:) Is it okay if Aud and I spend the night tonight? Dad is having some sort of party...

I throw the phone down on the bed and go to grab a pair of pajama shorts out of my dresser, I'll just steal a t-shirt from Jack.

I throw them into Audrey's diaper bag along with a nicer top to wear tomorrow, I can just wear my same pair of cutoffs. I don't have class on Saturday and I won't have to work until the evening.

My phone beeps, signaling that Jack has responded, and causes Audrey to gasp.

"What _was_ that?" I ask her as I pick it up to read his response

Of course! But is he really okay with you staying HERE?

I smirk and roll my eyes.

He knows we won't do anything with Audrey around

A few seconds later he responds with

Does he really tho?;)

We won't. I respond

I know. he sends back Do we have to sleep in separate rooms? Or can we stick with head to toe?

"You're such a goon." I whisper to myself as I type

No. No need for that:)

* * *

"Sorry, I hadn't planned on Mark being home tonight too..." Jack apologizes, in reference to his roommate who's sleeping in the next room

"It's fine, I mean, he lives here too." I shrug "Besides, Mark loves me. RIGHT MARK?"

"GO TO SLEEP!" Mark yells back

"See?" I laugh and turn to kiss Jack

We're laying in his bed, juts talking and cuddling. It's around 11:30, Audrey sleeps peacefully in her pac-n-play in the corner

"He's just pissed off _his_ girlfriend is out of town." Jack smirks

"Maybe I should look into getting my own place..." I sigh, rolling over to face him "I mean, it's not like I'm not making money."

"But are you making _enough_ money is the real question." Jack reminds me

"I know." I admit, rolling back onto my back to stare at the ceiling "But it would just be so much _easier, _you know? I wouldn't have to bounce back and forth between my parents like a child, all my stuff would be in the same place all the time, so would Audrey's, we could have sleepovers whenever we wanted..."

"That sounds nice." He smiles, wrapping his arms around my waist and burrowing his face in my neck

"Something to look into..." I sigh "That's for sure."

"Yeah."

"When are you going back for Thanksgiving?" I ask, spotting the picture of him and his brothers on his desk

"The Wednesday before, taking the train..." He whispers "Hey Cat?"

"Yeah?"

"Come with me." He says

"Like go _home _ with you?" I clarify, sitting up

"Yeah." He laughs, sitting up as well "I want to introduce you to my family. Introduce them to this wonderful girl I've only ever been able to tell them about."

I feel my face blush red.

"What about Audrey?" I ask, glancing at the pac-n-play

"Robbie will be home, I'm sure he'll want to spend as much time as possible with her." He says "Or you could bring her with you if you really want to, but I feel like Robbie won't like that. Seeing as he's only home for a few days."

"What about my friends?" I ask

"What about them?"

"I want to spend a little time with them while they're home too." I tell him "I mean, Jade, Tori and I have made a tradition of black Friday shopping together..."

He stops for a moment, thinking.

"I'll tell you what?" He smiles "You come home to East Bay with me Wednesday morning, and I'll get you a train ticket home for Thursday night after dinner."

"Would you really be okay with that?" I ask

"Yes." He tells me, and I can see it in his eyes that he isn't lying "I just want to introduce my family to the most important things in my life."

"Jack..." I blush, looking down

"Hey." He tilts my head upwards to look him in the eyes "I'm serious."

I smile and he does too, then leans in to kiss me


	57. Chapter 57

_Cat's POV_

"Audrey please..." I say, just loudly enough to shake the baby back to consciousness "Stay awake for Mommy please."

I know it's not wise to keep a cranky baby awake, or pleasurable either, but hopefully it's not much longer. Robbie had texted me and said he is about twenty minutes away, and that if Audrey was still awake, could I keep her that way just a little bit longer? What am I supposed to say? No?

"Just a little bit longer, baby girl..." I promise her "Then Daddy will be here to get you and you'll get to spend some time with him for a few days. Doesn't that sound like fun?"

"She's going to be a devil tomorrow if you keep her awake much longer..." My mother sighs as she walks past us

I'm sitting on the floor in our front room, pac-n-play, carseat and diaper bag next to me, extremely cranky baby on my lap.

"If he wants me to keep her awake then he can deal with it." I shrug

"I know." She nods "But the last thing you want is to get an SOS call when you're five hours away."

"Robbie is more than capable of taking care of his own daughter..." I tell her as headlights appear in the driveway

"I sure hope so..." She laughs as she walks out of the room

I shake my head and stand up to answer the door, taking Audrey with me. Robbie knocks on the door a few times before I open it.

"Anxious or something?" I smirk when I open the door

"Hi!" His face lights up

"Hey." I chuckle "Come on in."

He pushes the door past him and steps through the entryway, I step out of the way so he has room.

"Here." I pass Audrey to him "I know this is what you've probably been waiting for all day."

"Hi baby!" He coos and lifts her up into the air "I missed you so much! Wow! Look at how _big_ you've gotten!"

"Excuse the melancholy expression." I tell him "She's exhausted."

"It's fine." He says, snuggling her up close to him "I'm just happy to hold her and cuddle her for a few days."

"Don't let me keep you then." I laugh "Here, I'll grab her stuff."

"I've got it." He offers, bending down and fastening her into her car seat and then starts gathering the rest

"Hey Audrey Bear..." I sigh, croutching down to her level "Be good for Daddy these next few days okay? I'll see you Friday when I get back."

"I thought you were coming back Thursday?" He asks

"Yeah, but I'm going out shopping with Tori and Jade right away." I tell him "Is that okay?"

"It's fine!" He assures me "That's just more time I get to spend with my little princess."

"Bye Aud." I lean down and kiss her forehead "I love you."

"Hey." Robbie spreads his arms open when I stand up "I missed you too, you know."

"Oh alright." I smile and roll my eyes, walking over to him and giving him a hug "Welcome home, best friend."

"Thanks, best friend."

* * *

"Stop fidgeting." Jack laughs as we walk, hand in hand, out of the train station in San Francisco

"I'm nervous!" I exclaim "What if your family doesn't like me?"

"They'll love you!"

"Jack."

"They will!" He laughs "I promise!"

"Mhm." I roll my eyes "So who's picking us up again?"

"My dad." He says, scanning the crowd

"JACK!" A voice calls

I turn towards it and see a man about my father's age walking towards us. He's shorter than Jack, but has the same build otherwise.

"Dad!" Jack smiles, walking towards him pulling me along as well

"Hi!" His dad greets him and pulls him into a hug "I missed you!"

"I missed you too!"

"Well maybe if you would come home more often..." His dad teases him "But I can see you've found a reason to stick around Los Angeles a little more..."

"Yeah." Jack grins, turning to me "Dad, this is Cat. Cat, this is my dad."

"Nice to meet you." I smile, shaking the hand his father had outstretched to me

"The pleasure is all mine." He tells me "Now come on you two, Jack's mom is anxious to see you both. Sorry the car is a bit of a walk, I got stuck in traffic..."

"See?" Jack whispers to me as we walk "I told you they'd love you."

"It's only your dad..."

"He's usually the most intimidating." Jack laughs

"We'll see..."

* * *

"No!" One of Jack's younger cousin exclaims "You have to stay on the couch!"

"Why?" I laugh

"_Because_!" He groans "The couch is the castle, and the princess has to stay in the castle until the prince comes to rescue her!"

"Oh sorry." I chuckle as I sit back down

"Sorry bud." Jack apologizes as he enters the living room where we're playing "I need Princess Cat!"

"No Jack!" The little boy argues "You can't rescue the princess until you slay the dragon!"

"Who's the dragon?"

"I am!" He says proudly

"Okay." Jack smirks, approaching his cousin "Can I slay a dragon like this?"

He jumps forward and lifts him up in his arms, spinning in circles and blowing raspberries on his stomach.

"No!" The child laughs "No Jack put me down."

"I think this dragon has been slayed..." Jack chuckles, setting him down on the floor "Come on Princess Cat!"

"My hero." I roll my eyes as he walks over to the couch

"Come on." He smirks, picking me up bridal style "I have slayed the terrible dragon JJ and rescued the fair maiden! Now I'm off to the dining room!"

"Can Cat play with us later?" Another one of his cousins asks

"Of course!" I chuckle as Jack carries me out of the room "What do you want? I was having fun!"

"I want you to come meet some more people." He says, setting me down

"Who else is there to meet?" I ask "I met everyone at dinner."

"No I _introduced _you at dinner." He laughs as we enter the dining room where all the adults are still talking "There's a difference."

"There she is!" His mom greets me "We were just saying that if you got the kids' stamp of approval, you must be a keeper, because there's ver y few people they warm up to that quickly."

"Well Cat's really great with kids." Jack tells her, sitting down and pulling me onto his lap

"Most people you're age would want nothing to do with them unless they want to work with them someday..." An older woman, maybe an aunt I don't remember, observes "Good for you."

Jack and I exchange an awkward glance.

"You don't have to tell them yet if you don't want to." He whispers

"Tell us what?" His mother asks

"Nothing." Jack tells her

"Well I might as well tell them now..." I sigh "Since Jack is incapable of whispering."

This earns me a burst of laughter from everyone listening to the conversation.

_Yay, I made people laugh._

"I have a daughter." I say quickly, ripping the Band-Aid off "She's not Jack's so don't panic, it's sort of a long story how that happened but...yeah...I'm good with kids because I sort of have one."

They don't look stunned, they don't look sympathetic, but their expressions aren't blank. I'm not really sure how to describe them.

"Well..." His mother says first "Good for you. I'm sure that can't be easy."

"It's worth it." Is all I tell her "But I won't bore you with the details...let's talk about the internship Jack just landed."

"You got an internship?" His mother exclaims "Sweetie that's great."

"Cat." Jack smirks and rolls his eyes " I wasn't telling them yet."

"Hey you rat me out, I rat you out." I tease "Besides, it's a big deal."

"Everybody in my field gets internships!" He laughs "And you have one too!"

"It's still something to be proud of." I smile and give him a quick peck on the lips

"I like this one Jack." His mother laughs "Keep her around."


	58. Chapter 58

_Cat's POV_

I walk out of the train station in Los Angeles, cell phone in one hand, the other being used to drag my suitcase behind me, onto an almost empty street.

Apparently there's not much train traffic at 10:30 at night on Thanksgiving.

Much to the dismay of Jack (and his younger cousins), I had headed back home to Los Angeles shortly after dessert. Was it ideal? Not exactly, but I had prior commitments I needed to honor. And I'm not one to break promises I make, especially when so many people in my life have broken ones they've made to me.

His mother had begged me to come back at Christmas, but I had to decline. I can't spend my daughter's first birthday away from her, and Robbie would be pissed if I brought her with me. But I had told her that maybe New Year's could be a possibility. She had seemed really genuine, which thrilled me. A stamp of approval from your boyfriend's parents is hard to get. Especially when they know about the baby you had out of wedlock at seventeen.

They had asked to see pictures of the baby, of course, so I had shown them. Everybody fell in love with her, my daughter seems to have that effect on people, and they commented about how much she looked like me. Jack's mom even made a comment about how she wishes she 'could've had at least _one _girl', which made Jack blush. She then proceeded to comment about how if I _did_ end up coming for New Year's, I should bring the baby with me, because she would just _love_ to meet her.

"CAT!" A familiar voice calls

My head snaps up, trying to figure out where it came from

"OVER HERE!" Another, also familiar, voice yells

A car horn honks from the parking lot and a pair of headlights snaps on to reveal Jade and Tori, hanging out the window's of Tori's father's car.

A smile spreads across my face as I make my way across the street to them. My normal, paced steps slowly turning to a jog and eventually, a full out run.

They both hop out of the car and run to meet me, the three of us colliding into a giant group hug in the middle of the parking lot.

"Hi guys!" I laugh

"Hey."

"Hi."

"I missed you so much!" I tell them

"We missed you too." Tori chuckles

"Is it summer yet?" Jade asks "I'm not sure how much longer I can stand being in New York, it's always so cold."

"Shut up. You love it there." I tease as I throw my suitcase into the trunk

"Yeah it's pretty great." She shrugs "But it's not LA."

"Nothing beats LA." I agree

* * *

"Cat, we've been shopping for almost three hours now and you haven't bought _one_ thing for yourself." Tori observes

"Yeah well, I have a baby now." I shrug "And her birthday and Christmas happen to fall less than twenty four hours from each other. And if I have to pick between her having a great birthday slash Christmas or spoiling myself, I pick the first option."

"You're like...a grown up." Jade laughs

"It's not fun." I sigh "Well, sometimes it can be, but the whole managing your own finances and paying taxes thing really isn't."

"You pay taxes?"

"Yup." I nod "I have a job and a dependent, so I sort of have to."

"God that sucks."

"You get used to it." I shrug "It's not so bad."

"You know if somebody had told me two years ago that one of us would have a baby by the time we graduated high school..." Tori chuckles "I honestly would've figured it would be Jade."

"Wow." Jade scoffs "Thank you _so much_ for that."

"Yeah." I agree "I'm not exactly sure if I should be offended by that."

"I wasn't trying to offend anybody." Tori rolls her eyes "I was just trying to lighten up a heavy conversation."

We walk along through the mall in silence until we come to Baby Barn.

"Oh guys I need to go in here." I tell my friends as I drag them along with me into the store

"Funny." Jade smirks "A year ago we would've had to drag you in here kicking and screaming."

"A lot can happen in a year." I shrug as I examine a 'Baby's First Christmas' outfit

"Cat you can't buy her that." Tori tells me

"Why not?" I ask

"Because it's _not_ her first Christmas." She reminds me

She pulls out her phone and brings up a picture of Audrey on Christmas last year. She's asleep in her bassinet at the hospital, wearing a tiny Santa hat. Every baby in the nursery had gotten one.

"Not technically no..." I sigh "But it's the first Christmas we're _celebrating_ with her. Christmas last year was just kinda pushed aside and forgotten about, you know? I had bigger things to worry about."

"She has a point."

I fold the outfit over my arm and continue shopping.

"But seriously." Jade says as she and Tori follow me around the store "Last year at this time, did you guys ever think we'd end up here?"

"Shopping in Baby Barn on Black Friday? Never in a million years."

"If you two would stop reminding me that I almost didn't keep my daughter..." I sigh "...that would be _fantastic_."

"Sorry." They both say in unison

"It's fine." I tell them "Oh my god this is adorable!"

I pull the outfit of the rack to show my friends. It consists of a navy blue shirt that says 'Birthday Girl' in pink letters across the front, with pink leggings that have navy blue polka dots on them. Attached is a white bib that has pink edging that says 'My First Birthday' in pink as well.

"That's coming up soon." Jade reminds me

"Yeah I know..." I sigh "Where does the time go?"


	59. Chapter 59

_Cat's POV_

I step out of my car and slam the door behind me, making my way up the familiar walkway to Robbie's front door. I knock twice and wait for an answer.

"Hey." He greets me when he opens the door "Come on in."

"Thanks." I smile and step inside

"Come on," He motions for me to follow him "We're playing in the living room."

I follow him down the hallway to the living room. Audrey is sitting on the floor, surrounded by toys and books, while Dora the Explorer plays on the TV.

"Hi Audrey!" I smile when I enter the room "I missed you!"

A grin spreads across her face as she starts crawling towards me.

"Mama!" She giggles

"Wow." I gasp, bending down to her level to pick her up "When did you learn how to say that?"

"She's been saying it since she woke up Wednesday morning." Robbie tells me "She really missed you, I thought it would be a pleasant surprise for when you came back."

"It was." I coo, playing with Audrey's hand "Audrey, who am I?"

"Mama." She smiles

"And who's that?" I nod towards Robbie

"Dada!"

"That's right!" I kiss the top of her head "You're so smart!"

"She's gonna be our little genius." Robbie laughs, walking over to where she had been sitting and starting to collect her toys "Maybe one day she'll cure cancer."

"Maybe." I smirk and set her down "Here, I'll get that. Can you get her pac-n-play? We have to go to my Dad's tonight..."

"It's already packed up and waiting by the door for you." He tells me

"Wow, thank you."

"I try to be as prepared as possible." He shrugs

"So did she behave well this weekend?" I ask

"Well she was out cold by the time we got home Tuesday night..." He chuckles "So that was fine. We spent all day with Lydia on Wednesday and we went to my grandparents house yesterday."

"How did that go?"

"Everybody loves her." He rolls his eyes, smiling "Everybody wanted to hold her and play with her, my grandma bought her all these toys..."

"She has that effect." I smirk "I showed Jack's mom and some of his aunts a picture and they wouldn't shut up about how cute she is and how much she looks like me."

"Well she's practically a carbon copy of you!" He exclaims

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Of course not." He sighs "She's way cuter because she looks like you."

"Okay Shapiro." I laugh "Cut the flattery."

"Sorry." He chuckles "So, you said you're at your Dad's house tonight?"

"Yup." I tell him "But he and Chelsea have some party to go to, so Tori and Jade are going to come over and hang out. They're dying to see the baby."

"Isn't everyone?" He smiles

* * *

"Aw!" Jade groans "Audrey!"

Audrey giggles and continues splashing around in the water.

"You didn't seriously think you'd be able to help with bathtime and _not_ get wet, did you?" I laugh

Now that she's almost a year old, Audrey has graduated from taking baths in the kitchen sink to taking baths in the actual bathtub. So Tori, Jade and I are all sitting in my bathroom attached to my bedroom in my Dad's apartment giving her a bath. I'm doing most of it, since I'm really the only one who actually knows how to bathe an infant, but my friends step in when they need to. Jade seemed to have the worst luck though.

"I didn't bring a change of clothes!" She sighs

"You can borrow something." I tell her "Just go raid my closet."

"Cat." She scoffs "You're half my size. I won't _fit_ into anything in your closet."

"Then Jack's sweatshirt out of my bag and throw your shirt in the dryer." I chuckle "And stay out of the splash zone."

"Fine." She rolls her eyes and walks out of the bathroom

"Audrey." Tori whispers "I think you made Aunt Jade mad."

"I'm not mad!" Jade yells "But only because the kid is too cute to be mad at!"

"Hear that, Aud?" I tickle her stomach "You're too cute to be mad at. Use that to your advantage when you're older."

"Oh shut up." Jade groans

"Hey Tori, can you hand me that towel?" I chuckle

"Sure." She grabs the towel off the counter next to her and tosses it to me

"Thank you." I catch it "Okay Audrey Bear, time to get out."

"Hmf." She pouts

"Yeah I know." I smile as I left her out of the tub and wrap her up in the towel "You like bathtime."

"Well bathtime is fun." Tori shrugs

"Come on." I chuckle as I pull the drain plug out and walk out of the bathroom

Tori follows me into my bedroom and I set down on the floor and start drying her off. I put a diaper on her and go to grab her pajamas out of the diaper bag.

"Uh..." Jade says nervously as she re-enters the room "Cat?"

"What's up?"

"How long has Audrey been able to do that?"

"Do what?" I turn to look "Oh!"

Audrey has pulled herself up so she's standing, using my bed for support.

"Hey baby girl." I kneel down to her level "Whatcha doin?"

She doesn't say anything, but a huge grin spreads across her face.

"Hey baby," I smile "What's my name?"

"Mama." She giggles

"That's right." I smirk and kiss the top of her nose

"Woah. She can stand _and_ she can talk?" Jade laughs "You leave for three months and you miss _everything_."

"Just imagine how Robbie feels." Tori reminds her

"Yeah well it's always something new, that's just how babies are." I sigh as I sit down, crossing my legs and pulling Audrey into my lap "Which PJ's do you wanna wear tonight, baby?"

I hold two pairs out in front of her, one in each hand. She laughs and leans forward and snatches a light purple pair away. They're the kind with the feet, and they're covered in cupcakes.

"The cupcakes?" I ask her as I start putting them on her "Good choice."

"Of course Cat's kid loves cupcakes." Jade rolls her eyes

"Well she _is_ a little mini me." I smile as I stand up "Hang on, Aud. I wanna try something."

I stand her up in front of me and hold her hands so she's supported.

"She's not going to be able to walk five minutes after learning how to stand." Tori sighs

"Maybe not by herself. Come on Audrey, let's go to the kitchen."

I start walking, slowly of course, and much to my amazement, she moves her feet forward along with mine.

"One of you record this!" I exclaim "She's learning to walk!"

We make our way out of my room and down the hallway towards the main part of the apartment, Jade walking in front of us, recording the entire thing.

"Audrey you're doing to good!" I encourage her

"Let go." Jade says

"What?" I exclaim "No!"

"Just try it."

"Alright..." I sigh

Once we've entered the kitchen/living room where there's more space. I stop walking and let go of Audrey's hands, steadying her to make sure she won't fall over.

"Well at least if this doesn't work, we've established she can stand on her own." I sigh "Are you still recording?"

"Yup."

I crawl around Audrey and sit on my knees about two feet away from her, arms outstretched.

"C'mere Aud..." I whisper to her

She looks at me questioningly, a fearful look in her eyes as she puts one, tiny, foot forward. A grin spreads across her face when she doesn't fall over, and she moves her other foot. As she gains confidence, she starts moving faster and faster. When she's about three or four inches from me, she loses her balance and falls into me. Luckily, I catch her, wrapping her up in a big hug.

"You did it, baby girl!" I cheer and kiss her forehead "You did it..."


	60. Chapter 60

_Cat's POV_

Now that Audrey can walk, she's become more troublesome than ever. You have to watch her at all times, and if you don't, she'll most definitely get into something. Prince has found her newfound skill especially annoying, because now when he runs away from her, she can follow him quicker than she could before, and keep up a majority of the time. Meaning he's basically never safe from her antics.

Robbie had found returning to school even harder than he had expected to because of this too. Although I reminded him that with walking under her belt now, there wasn't really much more Audrey could get accomplished in the two weeks he was going to be gone until he came back for Christmas. And next time when he came back, he'd be back for close to a month, instead of five days. Which is great for Audrey. And for him. He'll have access to his baby, and his girlfriend, whenever he wants.

On top of everything else, I'm about a week and a half from finishing my first semester of college. I know it doesn't sound like much of an accomplishment, but considering everything I've been through in the past year, I'm considering a huge victory. But the end of a semester means final papers that need to be written, and final projects that need to be completed, in addition to final exams that need to be studied for. Add a mischievous baby to that mix, and I would consider anything less than extremely stressed out an understatement to how I'm feeling.

Which is why I'm so relieved that Jack convinced me to take the night off from studying tonight.

It's a Saturday night, and we're cuddled up together on the couch in my living room, watching Elf, while Audrey plays on the floor in front of us.

"When are you leaving to go home for Christmas?" I ask him

"Probably the twenty-third." He tells me, taking my hand and lacing our fingers together

"Is there anyway I could convince you to push your departure back to the morning of the twenty-fourth?"

"You might be able to, yeah." He laughs "Why?"

"I was going to have Audrey's birthday party the night of the twenty-third." I tell him "I mean, I doubt anyone will be available on Christmas Eve."

"I think that's worth staying for." He leans down and kisses me "Consider me RSVPed."

"Awesome." I smile "Gosh, look at her."

"Yeah it's crazy." He sighs "I mean, the first time I met her, she couldn't even sit up on her own and now..."

"Now she's walking."

"Now she's walking." He repeats "Can I speak freely, without being judged?"

"Of course!" I tell him "What's up?"

"I know it's crazy..." he sighs "But I almost feel like she's my own, you know? I babysit her, I take her out places with me, and I love her mom. I know that might scare you, but I really love that little girl. Almost makes me wish I hadn't missed the first four months or so, you know?"

I'm not exactly sure what to say. On one hand I'm thrilled, but on the other hand, I'm scared.

"I didn't mean to scare you." He says, probably sensing my processing issues "Just wanted to get that off my chest."

"No..." I shake my head "No you actually have no idea how much your saying that means to me..."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." I nod "I mean, when you're a teen mom, you're sort of the black sheep of society. People avoid you like the plague. So the fact that I've found a guy who loves me despite all of that, and who loves my daughter almost as much as he loves me...that's really amazing."

I feel myself start to tear up.

"Aw Cat, don't cry." He pulls me into a hug

"No and the fact that you said you feel like she's your own..." I cry "That means so much to me, like some step-fathers don't even feel that way about their stepchildren...that means so much..."

"I want to be her step-father one day..." He whispers

"What?"

"You heard me." He laughs "I wanna marry you Cat, one day. Not now obviously. We haven't been together long enough and we're still in college. But _one day_ when we're both ready to, I wanna marry you. And I want to have kids with you."

"Are you proposing?" I ask him

"No." He laughs "No. Like I said, we're not ready for that. We're not even ready to have sex. But one day, I really hope we will be."

"One day..." I repeat, smiling

"Mama!" Audrey says, standing up and walking over to us

But instead of coming to me, she goes to Jack and hands him Ellie.

"For me?" He chuckles "Thanks kiddo."

"Ah-ah-ba!" She exclaims, pointing back towards her toys

"Oh you want me to come play?" He asks

"Ah-ah-ba!' She repeats and walks back to where he had been playing

Jack smiles and scoots off the couch, crawling over to her.

She giggles when he shakes Ellie in her face and tries to smack his hand away, but in turn he picks her up and ends up blowing raspberries on her stomach.

There's a lot of things in my life at the moment that I'm unsure of. Like how I'm going to be able to afford feeding a growing baby who will be off formula completely in the next few months, or where my career is going to take me. But there's one thing I'm actually _very_ sure of.

_I've found a keeper._

At least, I _hope_ I have.

* * *

Later that night, after Audrey is in bed, Jack and I have the TV turned to the music station, background noise as we sit and talk. A song I've never heard before starts playing and Jack's face lights up.

"Dance with me?" He asks, standing up and offering me his hand

"Okay." I smile and take it

He wraps his arms around my waist, and I wrap mine around his neck, resting my head on his shoulder.

"_This is my love song to you.._." Jack starts to sing along "_Let every woman know I'm yours, So you can fall asleep each night, babe...And know I'm dreaming of you more_"

"I didn't know you could sing..." I whisper

He jut smiles and shakes his head as he continues to sing along.

"_You're always hoping that we make it_  
_ You always want to keep my gaze_  
_ Well you're the only one I see love_  
_ And that's the one thing that won't change _

_I will never stop trying_  
_ I will never stop watching as you leave_  
_ I will never stop losing my breath_  
_ Every time I see you looking back at me_  
_ And I will never stop holding your hand_  
_ I will never stop opening your door_  
_ I will never stop choosing you babe_  
_ I will never get used to you_..."

I smile and close my eyes as we sway back and forth to the music. If this is what the rest of my life with Jack will be like...then I can't wait.


	61. Chapter 61

_Cat's POV_

"Cat where do you want this?" My mother asks me

I turn to see she's holding Audrey's pink and purple smash cake.

"Uhhh..." I hesitate "Just put it on the counter with the other cake."

Since I knew that Audrey was going to destroy her cake, I decided make hers myself and then buy the actual cake for everyone else to eat from the store. They're both pink, purple, and white, but why waste money on a cake that isn't even going to be eaten?

"Okay." She nods "You better get Audrey dressed, people are going to start showing up soon."

"Yeah I know." I sigh, shifting Audrey from one hip to my other "I just wanted to make sure everything is taken care of."

"I've got everything under control down here." She promises me "Don't worry."

"Okay."

Who knew that planning a first birthday party would be so incredibly stressful?

I carry Audrey up to her nursery and set her down on the floor to play while I dig her outfit out of her dresser. It's the navy blue and pink one I bought at Baby Barn with Tori and Jade on Black Friday.

"Okay Bear..." I sit down to dress her "C'mon, let's get dressed!"

She crawls into my lap and I strip her down to her onesie, then begin putting the outfit on. As I do so, the events of almost a year ago playing back in my head, like they had occurred yesterday...

_"Make it stop Charlie, please!"_

_"If I could I would, kiddo!" He frowns, tears forming in his eyes "You know I would."_

_"Is everything okay?" A nurse asks entering the room_

_When she hears the beeping from the monitor, she moves to it immediately. I look at her briefly, I don't see much, but I know from the look on her face it's not good._

_She reaches for the call button on the wall and starts hitting it repeatedly._

_Before I know it, my room is flooded with several more nurses and a few doctors, all talking with concerned tones._

_"She's not fully dilated yet!" I hear one of them say_

_"Her epidural is wearing off!" Another one says "She'll be able to feel it."'_

_"Whats going on?" I demand, basically in tears "Someone tell me what's wrong!"_

_"Let's move her to OR!" Doctor Corey orders_

_A few nurses detach my bed from the wall and begin wheeling me out to the hallway, my mom, Charlie, Tuck and Robbie running behind me._

_"Cat!" Robbie exclaims, weaving his way through the sea of people and grabbing my hand "I'm here! It's going to be okay. Will somebody please tell us what's going on?"_

_"The baby's heartbeat is dropping too fast." Doctor Corey tells him as a nurse slips a mask over my face "We're going to have to do an emergency C-Section."_

I try my best to shake the frightening memory from my head

"Look at you!" I smile, standing Audrey up on my lap "You're such a big girl now, Audrey Renee!"

_"Audrey." I coo to the baby sleeping in my arms "How are you my little Audrey girl? It's perfect, I love it."_

_"I told you we'd figure it out." Robbie smiles from the floor_

The doorbell rings downstairs, signaling that the first guests have arrived.

"There's people here to see you! We don't want to keep them waiting, do we?" I chuckle "Hey Audrey, what's my name?"

"Mama!" Audrey exclaims

"That's right." I cuddle her to my chest, hugging her tightly as I kiss the top of her head "I'm Mama. And you're my baby. No matter how old you get."

* * *

"Remember the time you spit up on me?" Charlie chuckles, bouncing Audrey up and down on his lap "Huh Audrey? Do you remember that?"

"She probably doesn't." Tuck laughs "Seeing as it happened basically every time you held her the first three months."

"Did not!"

"It totally did, Charlie." I smile

"Oh whatever." Charlie rolls his eyes "I love you regardless, baby girl."

Audrey turns around and buries her face in his shirt, earning a chorus of 'aw's from everyone in the room.

"Hey." Andre appears next to me "How you holdin' up, Mom?

"Fine." I shrug "I'd be a lot better if Dad wasn't running so late."

"He'll be here soon. He has to be, he wouldn't miss her first birthday for the world." He assures me, touching my shoulder before going over to sit next to Tori, handing her a drink as he does so.

Just then, the doorbell rings.

"I'll get it!" Jack calls from somewhere in the house

I start making my way to the door so I can greet whoever it is, and arrive in the entryway just in time to see Robbie and Jack give each other one of those 'bro hug' things.

"Hey." I smile and give him a hug

"Hi." He sighs

"You okay?" I ask "You seem a little upset."

"I'm fine." He says flatly "Really. Where's Audrey? I wanna give her a hug."

"With Charlie." I tell him

"Awesome." He walks past me towards the front room where everyone is congregated

"That was weird." Jack says

"Definitely." I agree " But come on. He's here now, so we can do presents finally."

"Presents are the best part!" He exclaims, taking my hand and walking back to everyone with me

Robbie is seated on the floor, Audrey on his lap. Any traces of the melancholy expression he had on just a moment ago are now replaced with a huge grin as he talks to Audrey and tickles her.

"Mom!" I call as I sit down next to them "We're gonna do presents!"

"Coming!" She calls back as Jack starts moving presents towards us

She enters the room and sits down on the couch with Tuck and Charlie.

"Let's see...who's the first one from?" I say as I pick it up "Oh! Uncle Beck and Aunt Jade."

"I have no idea what it is." Beck admits as I set it down in front of Audrey "I let Jade do the shopping."

"Something she would've never known if you had kept your mouth shut." Jade rolls her eyes

"It's fine, she doesn't understand anyways." Robbie laughs "Okay kid, go to town."

Audrey needs some assistance from Robbie and me, but manages to get most of the wrapping paper off by herself.

"Puppy Pal Sadie." Robbie reads the box

"It talks and barks." Jade laughs

"Wonderful." I roll my eyes "We're old enough for noisy toys now."

"You might not like our present then." Andre chuckles, gesturing to Tori and him

It ends up being a 'Bee Bop Band' set. Complete with a bunch of maracas, jingle bells, kazoo, and a to snare drum.

"This one can stay at your house." I smile at Robbie

"No thanks." he chuckles "You can have it."

"We'll take it to my Dad's." I laugh

My mom gets her lots of books and toys, as do Tuck and Charlie (they also get her a t-shirt that says 'I Love My Uncles', complete with a pair of rainbow striped leggings. Only they would.). Robbie and I had gone in together and bought her a pink and purple ride-on car. She can use the handle on the back to push it while she's walking, or push it with her feet while she sits on it. Lydia, who had been unable to attend and sent the present with Robbie, got her a custom wooden alphabet puzzle that spells out 'Audrey'. Which I think is crazy cool.

After Audrey opens Lydia's present, which is last, Robbie puts Audrey on my lap and excuses himself, walking into the kitchen.

"Is he okay?" Jade asks

"I don't think so..." I sigh and hand Audrey to Jack "I'll be right back."

"Okay." He kisses me before I stand up "I'll get started on the toys."

"Thanks..." I tell him and make my way into the kitchen

When I get there, Robbie is leaning against the counter with his back to me, staring out the window into the yard.

_"Robbie?" I whisper_

_"Hey." He looks up, smiling, and sticks his phone is his pocket "Merry Christmas."_

_"Merry Christmas." I tell him "What...what happened?"_

_"You had to have an emergency C-Section." He explains "The baby's heart rate was dropping and they needed to deliver as soon as possible, otherwise you would've both been at risk. Your epidural was starting to wear off, so if they had kept you awake you would've felt the entire thing and it would've been extremely painful. So they knocked you out."_

_"I had a C-Section?" I clarify "Is that why I feel like I have no abdominal muscles whatsoever?"_

_"Probably." He chuckles "And don't be alarmed when you go to shower or change clothes and there's staples holding you together."_

_"Staples?" I gasp "Just...please tell me the baby is okay?"_

_"The baby is fine." He smiles "Perfectly healthy, five pounds, seven ounces. A tiny little thing, but healthy. Born at 11:47 on Christmas Eve."_

_"Thank god." I breathe a sigh of relief_

_"Definitely gave us a scare though..." He tells me "It took a good twenty minutes after it were born to get it's vitals where they needed to be...there was some fluid in the lungs, and the heart rate was low..."_

_"But everything is okay now?"_

_"Yeah." He grins "Everything is just fine now."_

"If you're upset because she's turning one, you're not alone." I tell him

"We knew it would happen eventually." He says flatly "That's not why I'm upset."

"Oh..." I rock back and forth on my heels, awkwardly, unsure of what I should really do or say "Well, whatever it is, do you want to talk about it?"

"Lydia and I broke up."

He turns to face me, and when our eyes meet, I can see he's crying.

"Oh Robbie." I frown and go to hug him "I'm so sorry, sweetie."

"I shouldn't even be upset..." He tells me "I'm the one who broke up with her."

"What?" I ask

"It wasn't fair." He says "To her. I wasn't one hundred percent dedicated to the relationship anymore..."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean..." He hesitates "I mean...I'm in love with someone else."

"Who?"

He catches me off guard, cupping my face in his hands and pressing a very passionate kiss to my lips. For some reason, I don't know why, I kiss him back.

"You." He says when we break away "I think it's always been you, I just couldn't see it before. Audrey made me see it. And being away from her, and from you...it made me realize what I really want. And I _don't_ want to be five hundred miles from you all the time. I'm back in LA to stay now, I'm starting classes at UCLA in January."

"Robbie...you shouldn't have done that..." I whisper, to stunned to say anything else "You shouldn't have kissed me."

"Yeah." A voice behind me agrees "You guys shouldn't have done that."

"Jack." I gasp "Baby...I can explain."

"I don't want an explanation." He shakes his head "Tell Audrey I said goodbye...give her a hug and a kiss from me."

He turns to leave.

"Jack!" I exclaim, running after him

"No, Cat." He says "I know how you kiss, you were kissing him back."

"It didn't mean anything..."

"Bye Cat."

"Wait!" I follow him out onto the porch "What about all that stuff you said few weeks ago? Huh? About how you loved Audrey like your own daughter? Or bout how you wanted to marry me and have kids with me?"

"I _do_ want those things!" I can see tears forming in his eyes "And I thought you wanted that too! But the fact that you could just throw it all away like that...that's why I know this isn't going to work out like I thought it would."

I don't say anything, just stand there as he walks to his car, gets in, and speeds away.

In a matter of seconds, my future with Jack had gone from 'Happily Ever After' to nonexistent. As for my future now, I'm no longer sure what it holds. But one thing I _do _know is, I had enjoyed that kiss. And as unclear as the future looks right now, there's another thing I know as well...

_Robbie will be a part of it for sure._

* * *

**The End:) **

**I have an epilogue written. But it's up to you guys whether or not I post it. Review and let me know. **


	62. Epilogue

_Cat's POV _

"MOMMY!" My four year old son, Michael cries, running to me, wrapping his arms around my legs, and burying his face in my side.

"Michael!" I exclaim, surprised and knocked a little off balance "Hey buddy what's the matter?"

"Gabe threw my truck in the pool!" He frowns

Leave it to my boys, at ages four and nine, they're _always_ giving me trouble.

"I'll talk to him." I sigh "But why don't you go ask Daddy if he can get it out for you, okay? I need to finish setting up for the party."

"Okay!" He perks up, and runs away.

Chuckling to myself, I pick up the bowl of chips I had just finished pouring, as well as a vegetable tray and two tins of dip, and make my way out onto the patio through the sliding glass doors in the kitchen.

I walk past the pool, where sure enough, Michael's toy dump truck is floating, over to the few tables we have set up. As I approach, I trip over my feet and almost drop the bowl of chips.

"Woah!" Audrey exclaims, appearing out of basically nowhere and catching the bowl "Careful Momma."

"Thank you." I breathe a sigh of relief "Where did you come from? You appeared out of nowhere."

"I was on the trampoline with Gabe." She gestures towards the yard

"Oh yeah speaking of him..." I roll my eyes "Gabriel!"

"What?" He responds from across the yard

"You know exactly what!" I tell him "Come on, no more trampoline! Go apologize to your brother please!"

"Fine!" He groans, slugging off the trampoline and up onto the patio

"Thank you." I ruffle his hair as he goes by "I love you!"

"Yeah yeah." He waves me off

"Was I ever that moody?" Audrey laughs as her brother enters the house

"Worse." I chuckle "Girls are always moodier than boys. So what do you think of the sign Uncle Tuck got you?"

I gesture to the giant 'Congratulations Audrey!' banner hanging on the side of the house behind me.

"It's awesome." She smiles

"God I can't believe you graduated high school." I frown "I don't know what I'm gonna do around here without you to keep me company."

"Oh something tells me you'll be busy enough." She chuckles, resting a hand on my eight-and-a-half month pregnant belly "And if not, you have Dad and the boys to keep you company too."

Very few people can legitimately say they married their best friend, but I can. After the incident at Audrey's first birthday, Robbie and I obviously had a lot to talk about. We decided at that point that a relationship wasn't the solution. Even though I had enjoyed that kiss in my kitchen, I didn't really love _love_ him, and I was still heartbroken over Jack. That night I was too shocked to feel anything, but the next morning (and the next month or so) was terrible.

I've seen him twice since then. Once to return the box of his things I had about a week after we broke up. That day I cried, more like sobbed, but he never even got out of his car, which only broke my heart more. I thought we would be together forever, but he wasn't even willing to try and fix things.

However, the more time I ended up spending with Robbie, and the older Audrey got, the more I started to see that _he_ was the one I really belonged with. And we've been together ever since.

He had finished up college at UCLA, a little bit closer to home than University of Arizona and now assists Andre in managing the business part of his record label. I continued working hard to get through school at LACC while still interning for Mary and eventually earned a business degree as well. When Mary decided to retire, she left me Maggie's, which has become the biggest part of my life next to my friends and family. Which leads to the second time I saw Jack...

It was around six o'clock on a Sunday night. I had just closed up Maggie's for the night and was outside locking up the store. He and a woman who I could only assume was his wife, passed by with a baby stroller. We gave each other one of those 'I think I know you, but I'm not sure how' looks as they passed. It was me who finally took the chance and called out his name. He stopped, turned back and gave a small wave, then continued walking. I went home that night and sent him a friend request on Facebook (seeing as he had unfriended me after the breakup). When he accepted, I snooped around a little bit. He had married some girl from UCLA the year before, and had just welcomed a little boy named Theo. I had thought about asking him to get together sometime, but decided he was part of a chapter of my life that was already way done with.

Robbie and I got engaged and married in the same year, when Audrey was seven. Then two short years later, we welcomed Gabriel Charles Shapiro into the world, followed by his brother Michael Robert Shapiro five years later. Audrey wanted them both to be girls so badly. And I felt so terrible for her that she was the only girl growing up in a house of boys. But that left lots of opportunities for Mommy-Audrey time, and our bond only grew stronger. And I will never forget the look on her face when Robbie and I told her our fiurth baby was going to be a girl. Her face lit up like the Christmas tree at Rockafeller Center.

"I'm still going to miss having you arou-oh!" I shift uncomfortably

"Mom?" Audrey grabs my arm, looking concerned "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I tell her, sitting down in a nearby chair "Your sister just thought that now would be a good time to start practicing her somersaults."

"Can I help you out in any way?" She asks sympathetically

The doorbell rings.

"You can go answer the door." I tell her

"Sure!" She smiles and turns on her heel

"Your sister is great." I whisper to the baby as I stand up to greet whoever has entered the house

As I enter the kitchen, I'm greeted by a crowd of very eager boys in swimsuits, and some in life jackets, all running past me and jumping into the pool.

"Wait!" Jade exclaims, running after them "Luke! Get back here! You still need sunscreen!"

"Hi." I laugh, slightly amused by the sight

"Three boys!" She exclaims, setting the bottle of sunscreen down and leaning against the island "Three! Within four years of each other."

She and Beck do in fact have three sons within four years of each other. Henry is eight about to turn nine, Carson is seven, and Luke is four.

"I am more than willing to try for a girl!" Beck offers, entering the kitchen with Audrey and Robbie "I've voiced that several times!"

"Knowing my luck we'll end up with another boy." She rolls her eyes "I'll be grey before I'm 40 thanks to those three, especially now that my go-to babysitter is going off to college!"

"It's just Cal State, Aunt Jade." Audrey tells her "The Long Beach campus! I'll still be home from time to time."

"Long Beach." Robbie shakes his head "I'm sending my daughter off to a party school!"

"Aw Audrey's a good girl." Beck assures us, wrapping an arm around her "Aren't you, Aud?"

"Don't worry, Daddy." She smiles "I'll be good."

"You better be." He warns "Any funny business and you'll be right back here, living at home and going to community college!"

I shoot him a death glare.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that!"

"Go ahead, Dad." She tells him "Stick your other foot in your mouth."

This causes an eruption of laughter from everybody in the room as the doorbell rings again.

I go to answer this time, opening the door to see Tori and Andre was well as their kids, six year old twins Adrianna and Marco.

"Hi guys!" I greet them "Come on in, kids, the boys are all out in the pool."

"Can we go?" Adrianna asks anxiously

I have to give the girl credit, she's the only female out of all her 'cousins' her age, discluding Audrey who would normally prefer to hang around the with adults rather than the kids. She keeps up with them, and she doesn't take any shit from them either.

"You have to give Audrey a hug first and say congratulations." Tori says

"Okay!" Both kids exclaim in unison and run off together

"Hi Mrs. Shapiro." Max, Audrey's boyfriend greets me, coming through the door behind Tori and Andre

"Oh Max." I laugh, giving him a hug "Ive been telling you for two years now, call me Cat. Mrs. Shapiro makes me sound old."

"You _are_ old." Tori informs me "Don't be that mom."

"Shut up!" I tell her "36 isn't old! Max, Audrey's in the kitchen."

"Thanks." He smiles, walking down the hallway

That boy has basically become my third son. He and Audrey met during the spring musical their freshman year, and after she said yes to his invitation to homecoming the following school year, we haven't been able to get rid of him. Not that I'm complaining, he can be a real help with Gabe and Michael when he needs to be.

I follow everyone else into the kitchen, going over to Robbie and leaning up against him. He slides his hands around my waist, gently rubbing my baby bump.

"You good?" He asks

"As good as I can be..." I sigh "I think this one is going to be a gymnast."

"Yeah I can feel her kicking..." He tells me "I'm sorry."

"No don't be." I look up and kiss him "It's okay."

"No one look." Audrey laughs "My parents are being gross."

"Like you can talk." I tease her

"Hey everybody!" Charlie enters the room "Audrey! Congrats on graduating kindergarten!"

"Close enough." She rolls her eyes as he guess her a hug

"No no, I know it was high school." He kisses her cheek

"No Tuck today?" I ask him

"Nah." He sighs "Abby has that stomach bug that's been going around, so he stayed home with her."

Abigail is Tuck and Charlie's 11 year old daughter. They adopted her through the same agency Robbie and I had tried using back in high school. She's the light of their world, and it's not hard to tell.

"Kids." I scoff "What are we gonna do with them?"

"Hey!" Audrey exclaims

"Hey what?" I laugh "You really want me to do my whole spiel?"

"Oh no." She groans "Mom!"

"Let's see it's what? June?" I do the math in my head "Eighteen years, five months, three weeks and two days ago, your father and I received one of the greatest gifts we could've ever asked for."

"A beautiful baby girl." Robbie smiles "With Cat's hair, my nose..."

"Mom's eyes, Mom's laugh, Mom's smile and Dad's curls." Audrey finishes "I know. I've heard it a million times."

"A little girl named Audrey Renee Valentine." I smile

"Valentine-Shapiro." Robbie corrects me "Hey! Maybe _this_ kid will actually look like me! The other three are all spitting image of their mother."

"Is that really so bad?" I ask

"No." He smirks and kisses me "I love their mother."

"And I love their father."

* * *

"AHHHH!" Max exclaims from the pool as Gabe and Marco jump on top of him, followed by Henry and Carson "Sea monsters! Someone help me!"

"Oh no!" I laugh, observing from a chair on the deck "Captain Max needs help!"

"Princess Audrey!" He calls to her "Will you help me please?"

"No." Audrey chuckles, shifting Michael on her lap "You brought this one upon yourself, buddy."

"Aw come on, Aud." Andre teases her "Go rescue your boyfriend."

"If Michael wasn't half asleep then maybe..." She sighs "Sorry Max."

"I want Momma." Michael tells her, sitting up and rubbing his eyes

"Oh." Audrey seems kind of surprised "Alright."

"Get in the pool, Aud." Max smirks

"Fine." She shrugs, pulling off the t-shirt she had been wearing and taking off running for the pool "CANNONBALL!"

All those years ago when everybody told me Audrey would me my mini-me, they couldn't have been more on track. She looks just like I did when I was her age, except her hair is much curlier than mine, a trait she inherited from Robbie. She straightens it most days, so it's rarely natural, which makes us look even more alike when we both style it the same. She still has my laugh, and my smile, it's almost scary. Robbie says our personalities are identical, I can't see it. Then again, I guess you're not supposed to really be able to.

"Audrey Renee!" Robbie scolds, taking off his glasses and wiping off the water our oldest had just splashed all over him

"It's a pool party, Dad. You're gonna get wet." She rolls her eyes, swimming over to Max "Okay sea monsters, get off my boyfriend!"

"Yes!" Max cheers "Pirate Princess Audrey has come to rescue me!"

"What's the matter baby?" I coo as Michael approaches me "You feel okay?"

"I want up." He tells me, extending his arms to me

"Oh Michael..." I sigh "You know you don't fit on Mommy's lap right now, the baby is taking up all the room."

"Mommaaaaa." He whines

"Mikey!" My mom, who had arrived about an hour ago, smiles "How about you come sit with Grandma?"

"Okay!" He perks up and runs over to join her in her lawn chair

Robbie had pushed very hard for the name Michael, I hadn't really loved it. Simply because I hadn't wanted him to be known as 'Mikey'. So we agreed that we would call him Michael and nothing else. Luckily, Michael himself had a major distaste for 'Mikey' as well, unless it was Grandma calling him it, she's the only one who can get away with it.

"I hear there's a grad party going on!" My father exclaims as he steps through the sliding glass doors from the house, followed by Chelsea.

They had finally decided to get married the year before I graduated college. My relationship with my dad continued to repair the older I got, and I think we're about as close to normal as we could possibly be, although I know we'll never be back to where we were before I had Audrey.

"Grandpa!" Audrey smiles, climbing out of the pool and running to hug him "Grandma CeCe!"

Audrey had major issues saying 'Chelsea' when she first started talking, so we shortened it to 'CeCe', and I guess it just kinda stuck. She's known as 'Grandma CeCe' to all three of my children, and Abigail as well.

"How's my little girl?" He asks, hugging her tightly

"I'm good." She grins "How are you?"

The whole exchange makes me start to tear up, partially because I'm pregnant and my hormones are good at getting the best of me, but also because back when Audrey was first born, I never expected the two of them to have a relationship at all, let alone a good one.

"I feel a little old." He admits "Seeing as my granddaughter is all grown up and about to ship off the college."

"It was my essay that got me in." She blushes

"Oh?" He raises an eyebrow

"Yeah. The one I wrote about Mom." She turns and smiles at me "About how much I admire her for working so hard to raise me, especially because it would've been so much less stress on her to take the easy way out and give me up."

"Audrey..." I shake my head, tears sliding down my cheeks

"Oh Mom..." She frowns, walking over to me and helping to my feet "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry!"

"Happy tears, happy tears..." I tell her, pulling her into a hug "How did I get so lucky to have a daughter like you?"

"Mommy no stop." She begs "I'll start crying too!"

"Hey don't leave me out of the love!" Robbie exclaims, running over and wrapping his arms around us both

"Mom don't cry!" Gabe adds, climbing out of the pool and joining the hug

"Michael!" Robbie calls to the only family member missing from the group "Come here please!"

"I'm coming!" He giggles, running towards us as fast as his legs can carry him

"I think we're making it worse..." Audrey chuckles, noticing that I've started crying full out now as Michael hugs my legs

"Baby don't cry..." Robbie leans down and kisses my cheek

"I'm just so happy!" I tell him through the tears

I honestly don't know how I could've gotten _so_ lucky.

I have the perfect life. A perfect husband, perfect friends, three (almost four) perfect kids, the perfect career.

Never in a million years did I think I'd end up here.

* * *

**So that's the end. Sorry for those of you who didn't like the way it ended. But honestly I've had that ending in mind since I wrote the first chapter so...yeah. I would like to say thank you to all of you for reading and reviewing and just being awesome in general. I always loved logging in and the morning and reading what you guys had to say! The links have been updated on my profile for those of you who like character visualizations (some might not work and some might need to be copy and pasted into a browser, the website is tricky like that I'm sorry). This is one of my favorite stories that I've written, and I'm sad to see it go. But I have more in store for you guys coming up in the next few weeks. But until then,**

**XOXO,**

**~danceisthewindowtoyoursoul**


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